


Room 219

by budds, Vowelsspacetime (vowelsspacetime)



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gay, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Sexual Tension, Slow Build, pricefield
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-05-26 15:16:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6244813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/budds/pseuds/budds, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vowelsspacetime/pseuds/Vowelsspacetime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When an unexpected old friend gets paired up as her roommate, Max's first year at Blackwell Academy takes an abrupt and turbulent twist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trick the Past Again

What seemed like an eternity had passed as Max trudged down the hallway of her dormitory. It was later in the afternoon and the empty rooms left an eerie silence as Max scanned the numbers beside each door. She took in a deep breath, holding it in as she peered down to a small crumpled paper in her hand.

_Chloe Price._

Max kept her eyes glued on the paper, repeating the familiar name in her head, as if her anxiety would unscramble an accidental anagram. She knew she’d have to face her old friend eventually, but she had hoped the situation would have been under her control. After moving back to Arcadia Bay to attend Blackwell Academy, Max hoped to have an anxiety free first few days before school. However, life never seemed to give her the control she longed for. 

Finally she reached her room - Room 219. Max exhaled nervously and pulled out her key. There was music coming from inside the room. ‘ _She’s here,’_ Max thought to herself. The small glimmer of hope that she would have more time before their encounter quickly faded. The rest of the year would be spent in this dorm, so she knew she had to adjust to what the future was going to bring.

Max shook her head and nervously unlocked the door, opening it slowly and peering inside the room. There were two beds against the walls on the side, with only one desk in front of the room. The left side was completely dull and quaint, lacking any sense of creativity and life. She knew that was inevitably her side of the room. Her eyes trailed the floor and followed the papers and clothing scattered across to the right side of the room.  

The music was much louder inside the room, coming from a stereo on a desk in the back. Max fully entered the room and glanced to the side she had yet to explore. Her breath hitched in her throat as she stared fixated on the bed. There were two girls, both in nothing but their underwear and bras, laying on top of each other and crashing their lips against one another.

The girl on top had bright blue hair, it would have fascinated Max if she wasn’t already experiencing so much sensory overload. The girl beneath her was harder to see as the two toppled over to switch positions, keeping their lips hungrily connected.

Max became completely self-aware and suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable. ‘ _What do I do? Should I leave?’_ Max thought to herself as she quickly examined the room. ‘ _I’ll just go, and act like nothing happened, I don’t think they know I’m here.’_ Max turned around quickly and in her clumsy twist, her backpack knocked into the nightstand and caught onto the strap, knocking her to the floor.

The girls on the bed bolted up from their position.  
  
“What the fuck!?” The blue haired girl called out as she sat up and stared at Max.

Max nervously looked up at the girl and her eyes widened, her mouth dropping slightly, “Chloe…?” Max uttered softly under her breath.

Chloe’s shock matched Max’s as her scowl softened, “Max?”

The girl beneath Chloe scoffed loudly and sat up, “Another girl? Really Chloe?”

Chloe shook out of her stupor and looked at the girl, ‘What? No wait, it’s not like that.”

The girl sat up and grabbed her clothing off the floor, throwing them on and grabbing her bag from the nightstand, “Let me know if you can pencil me in _without_ any interruptions.” She glared at Max on the floor and stormed out of the room. The door slammed behind her and echoed in the room.

The stereo’s music filled the room, engulfing the silence between the two. Chloe got up from her bed and walked over to the stereo, clicking a button on top which immediately cut off the music. The sudden stillness had a much louder effect than the slamming door did.

Max stood up from the floor and looked over at Chloe as she turned around and pulled a shirt over her head. She was completely captivated by the familiar stranger before her. This wasn’t the same girl from five years ago. Her incredulous look was not received well by Chloe, who had crossed her arms and glared at Max, “So, Caulfield, looks like we finally meet again.”

Five years. It had been five long years since Max and Chloe had seen one another, or even spoken for that matter. Max was aware of the time that had passed, but she underestimated how much it could change a person.

“Chloe. It’s really good to see you.” Max finally spoke up, she didn’t realize how long it had been since she had spoken. Chloe’s glare didn’t falter, causing Max’s heart to start thudding harder in her chest as Chloe stepped toward her

“Good to see me? If you hadn’t been assigned as my roommate I probably still wouldn’t have heard from you.” Chloe had walked right up to Max, eyeing her and biting her bottom lip into her mouth. She didn’t look angry as much as disappointed and hurt. Max couldn’t look at her in the eye as she turned and held her arm with her opposite hand, “I know, I know I was awful to you…” Max’s face felt warm, her mind scrambling to explain without making Chloe any more upset, “I should have been there for you and check in. I just-”

“-Left your past behind you?”

Those words caused a sharp pang of guilt to run through Max, animated by a chill through her spine. Max wanted to apologize and let Chloe know how much of a mistake she had made, but she couldn’t find the right words.

She couldn’t win this battle, but this was one she deserved to lose.

Chloe’s face softened and she sighed, shrugging her shoulders as she walked to her bed, “Well, I won’t poison your food or anything like that, but don’t expect us to just be _besties_ again.” Chloe used air quotes around the word ‘besties.’ She plopped down on her bed and leaned back on her elbows with her legs hanging off the edge.

Max followed her with her eyes and realized that Chloe put on a shirt, but was still in her underwear. A blush warmed her face and she quickly looked down to grab her backpack off the floor.

Chloe smirked and crossed her legs, “Oh and about that girl…” She gestured to the door with her thumb, “You might have ruined my chances.”

Max looked up from her bag and thought for a moment before turning to face Chloe, “Was she your girlfriend?” She knew small talk wasn’t going to fix everything, but it was worth starting to try to pick up the pieces and begin where they left off.

A laugh was all Max got in response, she tilted her head in confusion at Chloe, ‘ _Was that stupid?’_ she thought to herself. Chloe shook her head and smiled lightly at Max, “Oh god, fuck that, no way. I don’t date.”

“But...you two were…” Max began, getting more questions than answers at this point. Chloe turned and laid down completely on her back, “Come on Max, we’re teens in school, no one dates or does anything serious. Fuck the norm. ”

“Was that her name?” Max replied quickly, hoping her nostalgic snark would be well received.

Chloe laughed under her breath and rolled on her side to face Max, “Nice one, Caulfield. Keep up the jokes and I’ll consider moving the pigs blood from above your bed.”

Max rolled her eyes and continued to place her things on the shelf. The two didn’t speak again for some time and Max finished putting up her photos and posters on the wall, as well as unpacking her clothing and school supplies. She looked over her shoulder at Chloe and saw that she had drifted off to sleep.

“She better not be a snorer.” Max mumbled under her breath as she looked back at her side of the room to gaze at the unpacking progress she had made.  
Her first day of school was tomorrow, at a school she had dreamed about attending for years, and here she was sharing a room with her old best friend. This was going to be a long first year, but Max knew this was going to be more interesting than she could have imagined.


	2. A Little Bit Close

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kind reviews! I promise the first chapter will be the only one that short. Enjoy! :)

A figure, she looked hurt. It was a girl. She was trapped. _Was she trapped?_ She's screaming, but there's nothing happening. There's a crash of sound and flashes. _What's going on? I can't reach her._ The girl scoots further, her hands become tied and she's crying. She's screaming "stop" but nothing is working. Another figure approaches her. _Is it holding something?_ Another flash and then, a bang.

Max shot up from bed, her shirt stuck to her back from the sweat trickling down. Her head throbbed and she looked around the room. She was in her dorm, her eyes dilating and adjusting to the darkness.

Another bang echoed in the room.

Max quickly turns her head to face the windows between the two desks. Chloe was yanking at the handle, tugging it with both her hands and planting her foot against the wall for support. _That_ explains the sounds in her dream.

"W-what..?" Max uttered, her voice was raspy from her dry throat. Chloe yanked the window open and stepped onto the ledge, looking down below. Their dorm room was on the second floor, but it was still too high to jump down. ' _She's not gonna try to jump down is she?_ ' Max thought to herself. Her eyes had fully adjusted and she looked down at her phone beside her.

_4:33 A.M._

Chloe sat down on the ledge and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, leaning against the window frame. She turned around and Max quickly plopped her head back down on her pillow, hoping Chloe hadn't noticed her.

Leaning over to her desk, Chloe grabbed a lighter and twisted back to face outside. She flicked on the lighter and brought it to her cigarette, letting the glow of the fire sit before closing her lighter back up. She held the cigarette between her thumb and pointer finger as she breathed in the smoke.

Max knew cigarette smells, and realized that wasn't a cigarette Chloe was smoking. She watched Chloe, the star-lit sky and glow from the moon outlined her body. She was a cloudy silhouette and Max was completely enthralled with the scene. ' _This would be such a beautiful photo.'_ she thought to herself.

Her eyes grew heavy and she began to drift to sleep. She thought she heard Chloe sniffle, and hold back heavy breaths, but she wasn't sure if she was just imagining it again like her dream. _'Who was that girl?'_ Max thought, but that question faded away like the smoke encompassing Chloe as she fell back to sleep.

The sunshine filling in the room warmed Max's face as she slowly shook off her sleep. She opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. It was the first day of class today. She knew it was probably around 7:55 because she always wakes up a few minutes before her alarm went off. Her circadian rhythm helped keep her in check, especially now that summer was officially over.

A shuffling of sounds caused max to quickly turn her head away from the ceiling as she caught sight of Chloe. Her eyes went wide and she froze. Chloe stood in between their beds, her back to Max, as she changed out of her pajamas. She had just finished pulling up her pants and reached to her bed for her bra.

Max knew she was staring, but she couldn't help seeing all the ways her old friend had changed and grown. Chloe took her sleep-shirt off and exposed her bare back, the strap of her bra she grabbed wrapped around her fingers.

Her right shoulder had the beginnings of a tattoo, the rest hidden out of view. Max could tell it went further down the length of her arm. She sat up slightly from her bed to try to see if she could make out what it was.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

The sounds of Max's alarm belted through the room.

"Fuck!" Max exclaimed as she reached over and slid the snooze button on her alarm. When she looked up, Chloe had already turned around and was staring at her in astonishment.

"Max, were you just...?" She began, a dumbfounded look growing across her face. Her arms were crossed over her chest to cover her exposed skin.

"What? No! No!" Max began, darting her eyes around the room as if she would find an alibi, "I-I just. Your tattoo. I was..." She trailed off, realizing how stupid her excuse was.

Chloe's expression shifted in a way Max didn't expect. A mischievous smirk perked up on the corner of her mouth and she stepped forward.

"W-What're you doing?" Max struggled to utter. She hated how much she stuttered when she was nervous.

"You wanted a peek, right Max?" Chloe's voice had shifted completely to be laced with lust and softness. It made a shiver run down Max's spine and she leaned back on her bed, her hands tugging her back slowly.

Chloe was now leaning over Max's bed and was eye level with her. Her lids were hooded with an avidity that Max couldn't describe. Chloe ran her tongue over her own bottom lip and it made Max's breath catch in her throat.

"Wanna see?" Chloe husked, her voice was so low. Max locked eyes with her and couldn't look away, not knowing what to expect. She stayed quiet and gripped onto her bed sheets, trying to ground herself.

Chloe quickly shifted her body, still holding her arms to her chest so her right arm was facing Max. The sudden movement caused Max to jolt back and make contact with the wall behind her.

"My tattoo. Isn't that what we're talking about? What were you expecting?" Chloe shot a wink and Max felt her cheeks heat up with a flushed embarrassment.

Max shoved Chloe's arm and turned away, "Real funny, Chloe." She sighed and leaned back against the wall. Chloe let out the laugh she had been holding in, "Too easy, Max." She turned her back to Max and finished putting the rest of her clothes on.

Max got up and walked to her closet to pick an outfit. First day of class always made her nervous, and the anxiety began as soon as she woke up and needed to pick what to wear. She finished grabbing everything and headed for the door.

"Aw, you not changing in here Maxie?" Chloe called out to her and Max shook her head as she grabbed the door handle, "No way I'm not, you've got the space to yourself to change." Max retorted and swung the door open, stepping into the hallway.

"But what if you've got a cool tattoo?" Chloe was able to yell before the door closed. Max sighed, "What am I gonna do with her." She mumbled and headed down the hallway towards the bathrooms.

As she turned the corner to the bathroom, Max was too preoccupied in her thoughts that she didn't notice the girl right in front of her. They collided into each other and Max fell back, grabbing the wall before she tumbled down. All of the clothing she was holding scattered on the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking." Max said quickly as she leaned forward and picked up her clothing. She looked up at the girl before her, she was timid and quiet. Her meek persona made Max feel even worse about running into her, and her eyes looked so tired. ' _Maybe she was having a rough for day too_.' Max thought to herself.

"It's okay don't worry. Are you new here? I haven't seen you before." The girl remarked, looking nervous as if she was worried she had asked too much.

Max adjusted some of the clothing in her grasp and nodded, "Yeah, I just got in yesterday actually. I know most people probably showed up a week ago or so to prepare and adjust. I just got caught up with stuff back home." She kept it vague enough that she didn't have to bore this girl with her own stories, "I'm Max by the way."

"Kate, nice to meet you." Kate stuck her hand out and retracted it immediately, chuckling lightly to herself, "Looks like your hands are too full."

"Yeah, I'm changing and getting ready in here. I've got class in an hour and I could use the extra time to find out where my classes are." She wanted to be sure that she wasn't spending the first day running around Blackwell Academy looking for a room rather than having a presence in class.

Kate nodded and pulled back a few wisps of hair that fell out of her bun, "You don't like changing in your room?"

Max shook her head, "It's just easier in here I guess." She knew it was a weird circumstance, but she had hoped the situation between her and Chloe would get less tense over time.

"Well I won't keep you anymore, have a great first day! Come by my room if you need help finding anything, its room 222." Kate gave Max a quick smile and walked past her to the hallway.

' _She was so nice. I'll definitely have to hang with her more._ ' Max thought to herself excitedly. "Wait." She said quietly to herself, "Did I just make a friend!?" She just registered fully what the conversation entailed and she cheerfully hopped a few times. Max wasn't always the girl who was able to make friends on the first day. She wasn't a loner, but it took her some time before she could warm up to people and consider them a friend.

As Max went inside the bathroom to change, she couldn't wipe off the smile on her face. ' _Maybe this won't be so bad after all._ ' She thought as she went inside the stall to change.

When she was done, she hurried back down the hallway and pulled out her phone.

_8:17 A.M._

"Shit, I need to hurry up." Max said to herself, realizing she was going to be cutting it close if she was going to have ample time to traverse and potentially get lost.

When she got back inside the room, Chloe was on her bed scrolling through her phone. Max threw her pajamas on her bed and started shuffling around her room for all the school supplies she had unpacked the night before.

Chloe peered over at Max and sighed, dropping her phone at her side, "Do you have to be stressed about this? You're making _me_ anxious."

Max looked over her shoulder at Chloe while she started stuffing a binder into her book bag, "I just don't want to forget anything. It's the first day you know? Gotta be prepared."

Chloe snorted and let out a quick, sharp laugh, "Jeez, I can't remember the last time I put that much effort into something."

"Well you seemed to have done a number on the window, that seemed like a lot of effort." Max said under her breath, realizing halfway that she probably shouldn't have mentioned that.

"What?" Chloe responded, sitting up from her position.

Max closed up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, adjusting it so that it hung behind her. She turned and looked at Chloe, who had her arms crossed and was waiting for a response.

"I mean last night, when you were sitting on the windowsill like Juliet. You waiting for Romeo to show up and sweep you away?" Max said jokingly.

However, Chloe's reaction was not anywhere near what Max had expected. Chloe gripped the edge of her bed and bit her lips into her mouth. She looked back up at Max, her eyes full of anger, "You always fucking watching me, Max? Why don't you just mind your own fucking business."

Max was taken aback by her sudden blunt reaction. She stood still and waited to see if Chloe was going to elaborate. Max gulped and finally spoke up, "Chloe, what's wrong?"

Chloe stood up suddenly, her eyes piercing right through Max's, "Just go to your stupid class and stop analyzing the shit I do okay!?"

Max looked at the enraged girl before her uneasily. It had been years since they've spent time together, but this was a shock. She realized she must have hit a nerve.

"Fine." Max mumbled and walked out the door to the hallway, not looking back as the door closed behind her.

The walk to campus felt like miles away while Max marched toward the main entrance of campus. There was students across lawn, sitting together and chatting about all the general school nonsense that Max tuned out with her headphones. She scanned across at all the various groups of students and wondered if she would have a group of friends to call her own here.

' _I should have stopped by Kate's room._ ' Max thought as she pulled the front doors opened and stepped inside. The corridors and hallways were easily just as packed as it was outside. Students filtering in and out of room, reuniting with their friends that had been temporarily removed from their life over the summer.

Starting her senior year of high school at a completely new campus had its drawbacks. Max faced the obstacle of feeling completely alone in such a crowded and lively setting. She envied for that feeling of having a friend to come back to.

Well, she _does_ have that.

That friend just currently hates her.

"Here it is." Max said gleefully as she found her chemistry classroom. Navigating her way around was a lot easier than she had anticipated, probably because the school was not as complex and multifaceted as she had imagined.

She walked inside and took a seat near the back of the classroom. Students were entering in slowly, some immediately talking to their classmates and others staring at their phones to kill time.

Max looked up at the clock above the chalk board,

_8:45 A.M._

Max leaned over to her bag to grab her journal. As she leaned up, she saw the boy in front of her was also digging into his bag behind him. He looked up at her and smiled, she smiled back at him.

He turned back to face the front and Max sat up straight in her chair while the room filled up. The clatter of books being dropped on desks and conversations roaring up made Max even more aware of herself. It was only the first day but everyone seemed more prepared than she did.

After the teacher came in and class began, Max was relieved to know that people only brought in their books because the school offered the students to leave their books in class instead of lugging them around. ' _Sweet save Caulfield, you didn't miss any secret assignments!'_ She smiled to herself, which she quickly abandoned as she realized the nickname she had given herself. Can't let Chloe influence her _already_.

The teacher asked the room to pair up with someone around them to introduce your name, where you're from, and what you did over the summer.

' _Great, I loathe doing these so much. Why can't she just start the lecture instead?'_ Max hated the unexplainable anxiety from being forced to befriend someone in the room with you.

The boy in front of her turned around immediately and smiled at her, "Hi!"

Max was taken aback, considering how she figured the student next to her was a more viable option. She didn't question it though, this guy seemed nice.

"Hi, I'm Max." She told him softly. The room was getting loud as everyone began pairing off and moving around for more space.

"Warren, nice to meet you!" He stuck his hand out and Max leaned over the table to shake his. He held her hand as he turned his chair and scooted over to sit across from her desk.

Max was aware of how long he had held her hand and as he let go she looked down to try to remember what she had to say.

"You wanna go first Max?" He asked, he looked eager to talk. She could tell he probably had a much more exciting summer than her. She shook her head and nodded at him, "You go first."

Warren began telling her about his summer, about a summer camp he went to, and about an internship he got because he's such a 'science-junkie' as he worded it. He got really into his stories with details and hand gestures that Max didn't want to interrupt with any questions, he probably doesn't get to talk about himself this often.

Max's eyes caught sight from the front of the room as someone walked in. "Fuck." she mumbled without realizing she had let the thought slip out loud.

Chloe walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. She didn't have anything on her, as expected, and walked past the teacher down the rows of the room.

Max was hoping that Chloe wouldn't notice her, there were tons of seats open in the front. Who was she kidding though, there's no way Chloe would sit up front.

To her dismay, Max met eyes with Chloe as she approached her desk. Chloe shot her a quick smile and knocked her journal onto the floor. She kept walking down and sat in the back of the room.

"Whoa, who was that?" Warren said defensively. He sat up a little from his seat to see where she went.

"It's fine, I know her. It's okay." Max said, bending down to get her journal off the floor.

Warren looked at Max without saying a word, and his skeptical look said it all. He didn't understand and Max had to elaborate, "She's my friend."

"A friend?" Warren reiterated.

Max felt her face getting warm, she knew this made no sense at all. It was just a very strange situation to be in. She nodded and looked down at her journal, "Keep going with your story though."

When class ended, Max turned around to see if Chloe was still there. As expected, Chloe was the first one out of the room. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, ' _I hope it won't be weird back in the dorm._ '

When Max collected her things and got up, she was stopped by Warren. "Hey, by the way…" He trailed off and instantly looked uncomfortable, "I'd love to see some of your photography sometime. The stuff you talked about sounds really amazing."

Max felt elated for a moment and nodded, "Of course! I'd love to show you." She always got excited when someone asked about her photography. It was something she didn't want to inundate people with her creative interests if they didn't want to hear about it.

Warren smiled and waved her goodbye, "Gotta run to class, see you tomorrow Max!" He turned around and left.

Max pulled out her schedule as she stepped outside the classroom and realized she had quite a sizable gap until her next class. It was her photography class and also the class she was most excited for at this school.

' _Maybe I'll go see Kate.'_ Max thought as she headed back for the dorms. She stepped inside and went over to the room across from her. She lifted her hand and hesitated before knocking.

' _She's probably in class._ ' She thought and looked around the hallway. It was pretty quiet and probably uncommon for people to have gaps between classes so early in the morning.

Max finally shook off her reluctance and knocked on the door. She had her hands behind her back as she waited. There was a shuffling of sounds and the door opened.

"Max?" Kate said, she looked tired and groggy.

"Hey Kate." Max perked up and smiled at her, "Did I wake you?"

Kate nodded, "You did but I actually accidentally fell asleep so it's good you came by." She stepped back and opened the door completely, "Come on in!"

Max stepped inside and looked around her dorm room. It looked a lot more filled than Max's relatively empty dorm room. It still had a sullen feel to it, almost like an atmosphere of sorrow that Max couldn't grasp. For a room so full, it felt a little empty.

"Have a seat Max." Kate said as she closed the door behind her, "How was class?"

"Good!" Max perked up as she sat down on the bed. Kate sat across from her at her desk chair, she turned her chair around and leaned back. Max put her bag down on the floor and looked back at Kate, "I only had chemistry so far and that went well, I think I made a friend. I'm looking more forward to my class in an hour. It's photography with Mark Jefferson."

"Oh that sounds great! I had class but we got let out early because we didn't have much to go over so I came back and just fell asleep. I had trouble sleeping because...because of first day nerves." Her voice softened for the end of her statement, almost like she was ashamed.

Max nodded and stayed quiet for a bit. She scanned around the room again and looked back at Kate, "Well random naps in the day must be easy when you don't have a roommate right?"

Kate tilted her head in confusion, "What?"

Max leaned back on her hands and sighed, "My roommate is such a handful, I can already tell I won't be able to sleep because of our sleep schedules-"

"-Wait Max." Kate interrupted, "You have a roommate?"

Max looked at Kate with a puzzled expression, not knowing what Kate was going on about, "Yeah, why?"

Kate scrunched her eyebrows and crossed her arms, "This is a private academy, you know we have our own rooms."

Max's eyes went wide, processing everything Kate was saying, "W-wait...are you saying that..?"

Kate bit her lip into her mouth and nodded,

"There are no roommates here."


	3. What's left of this Moment

The door slammed shut while the crumpled paper dropped down, exposing the name of the girl before her.

“When were you going to tell me!?” Max yelled as she gestured to the fallen sheet that had misshapen even more in her rage.

Chloe was sitting back in her bed, leaning against her pillow and holding back a laugh.

“This isn’t funny stop laughing!” Max yelled even louder, her frustration completely consuming her.

Chloe pivoted and hung her legs off her bed, turning to look at Max, “Wow, didn’t know you had it in you to have a voice Max. This is the most I’ve heard from you in a while.”

Max clenched her fists and furrowed her eyebrows, “Chloe, this isn’t about  _ that _ okay!? This is about you lying to me. How long were you going to wait? And how did you even manage…” Max looked around the room and threw her arms up to gesture to the entire space, “All of this!?”

Chloe nodded toward Max’s bag, “Pull out your schedule.”

She had more questions for Chloe as the moments passed, but she obliged in hopes this would solve something. She opened up her bag and took out her class schedule. Chloe leaned forward and grabbed it in one hand, using her other hand to grab the crumpled roommate assignment sheet.

Max watched as Chloe held them both up alongside each other. Max scanned the two documents and noticed how incredibly unprofessional and unofficial the roommate assignment looked in comparison.

“It’s pretty good right? I threw it together in like ten minutes.” Chloe smiled as she leaned off her bed to pull out a pack of cigarettes.

Max’s eyes widened and her body shuddered, fully understanding what had happened. She slowly scanned around and began piecing the peculiarities in the room. The single desk in the room, the second bed being much lower quality, the small closet space.

Max brought her hand to her head, the realization becoming too overwhelming.

“Detective Max figured it out?” Chloe teased as she fiddled with the lip of her cigarette box.  

Max’s mouth hung open and quivered, but she was unable to single out what she wanted to say next. She had too many questions piling up and her shock had left her completely paralyzed in perplexity.

“Why?” Max was finally able to utter. It was much softer than the last aggressive statements she had spewed. She knew she was still just as upset, but she knew that yelling at Chloe got her nowhere.

Chloe shrugged, “Revenge, I guess.”

Max’s eyes flickered with enough rage that Chloe stood up immediately after her response, “I’m kidding. Well, kinda.” Chloe said with her hands up, her cigarette box held in her palm by her thumb. She dropped her hands to her side and Max could feel her energy shift. She knew she would finally get a serious answer.

“I have some  _ stuff  _ to take care of.” Chloe’s eyes narrowed and she looked down at her feet, “I need to be out here, and out of my house. My mom and David, the new loser in her life, think I’m at school here.”

“But, how’d you know I would be here? And that I was coming back?” Max was finally getting answers, but she was still skeptical about how this all occurred.

“Your mom called mine, to make sure you’d adjust better out here. I did some investigation to find your room and hauled this stuff in here.” Chloe gestured to her bed and other items around the room. “David works as a security guard so I know my way around campus.” Chloe kept fiddling with her cigarette box lid, ripping little tears across the top. It was an empty box, but she probably kept them for other reasons.

Max didn’t respond as she connected everything together. It all made sense, but it was still unbelievable that it actually happened so seamlessly.

“Pretty good right? I had you fooled for sure.” Chloe looked back up at Max and smiled.

Max sighed and shook her head, “Yeah, it was pretty convincing.” She looked over at Chloe’s bed and realized how dilapidated it was. She should have known this was a bit mischievous to only hear about a roommate right before school began.

“You gotta go though.” Max said in a more stern and stringent voice, “I’ll get in a shitload of trouble if they find you  _ living _ here with me!”

Chloe crossed her arms, holding her ground, “You’re kidding me right? No way in hell I’m leaving, and besides, you owe me.”

Max raised an eyebrow at Chloe, who looked completely confident in her stance on this, “Owe you? For what?”

Chloe held up her hand and wiggled her fingers, “Five years Caulfield. Five years of time. I think you can go one semester right?”

Max hung her head back and brought the palms of her hands up to her eyes, “You’re insane, Chloe, you can't be serious!”

“I can’t go back okay? I don’t have a home anymore. I’m not welcome there, and I have to take care of some things.” Chloe tossed the ripped box on the floor -  _ next _ to the trash can- and sat back on her bed, “and it wouldn't hurt to have a friend again.”

Max’s stomach dropped at Chloe’s words. She sounded so hurt and broken, almost as if  she was finally coming to terms with her situation. The stillness that the silence brought made Max aware of a ticking sound in the room. She peered over at the clock on the wall and saw that her class was starting pretty soon.

“Am I keeping you?”

Max quickly shot her eyes back to Chloe, who had noticed her switch her attention to the clock. The sting in Chloe’s words made Max’s mouth feel so dry. She shook her head, “No. I only came by to pick up some stuff.” Max gestured over to the camera on her desk.

Chloe followed Max’s eyes and looked over at the camera, “Nice one. My dad had a similar one.”

“William was a big fan of photography too, huh?” It felt uncanny to talk about Chloe’s dad, especially in the past tense, “He took really beautiful photos.” She was prepared to have Chloe snap at her again, but was shocked to hear her laugh.

“His photos sucked, it was such a lame hobby.” Chloe had a small smile, almost like she was trying to keep her stern exterior but her memories were breaking through, “He did love it though.”

“Do you still have-”

“You should head to class, you really don’t wanna be late.”

Max felt her heart sink at Chloe’s quick dismissal. She nodded and grabbed her camera before turning and heading out the door. ‘ _ Time. _ ’ Max thought as she rounded the corner and headed for the exit, ‘ _ I just need more time and I think things will be okay again. This living situation isn’t ideal but, I don’t mind it as much as I probably should. _ ’

As frustrating and dangerous as having a secret roommate would be for Max’s good standing at this school, seeing Chloe again has been nothing short of a nostalgic rush. Chloe had changed, and Max wanted to learn all about the impact these past years have had.

“Max!”

Max stopped and turned around to see Chloe jogging down the hall with a piece of paper in her hand. She had taken off the sweatshirt she was wearing and was clad in a black tank top.

“Your schedule, you might need it to find your class.” Chloe nudged the piece of paper at Max’s stomach, “And I promise this is a legitimate one, not a Price-notarized.” She flashed a sly smile at Max.

Max’s eyes trailed from the piece of paper and following the ink path up Chloe’s arm. She hadn’t been able to look at the tattoo this clearly or closely. It was absolutely breathtaking how much detail was in each design and curvature. Her eyes stopped at Chloe’s shoulder and fixated on her exposed collarbone.

‘ _ Am I staring?’ _

“Is there something on me?” Chloe looked down at her chest and Max immediately felt her face heat up.

“N-no! Sorry! I was just looking at...” Max’s voice was caught in her throat, she had no idea what to say. Chloe was silently waiting for an answer with a smile being held back. Her sudden patience and eagerness made Max so nervous that she just shook her head and grabbed the paper, “Thanks for t-the, the, yeah!”

She turned quickly and hurried down the hall faster than she could have imagined was possible.

The class had been everything she had hoped for. Mark Jefferson was incredibly talented and his presence in class was unlike anything Max had ever experience. He wasn’t just another teacher, he was someone who she aspired to be like. The class consisted of introductions and sharing photography experiences over the summer. This was definitely going to be Max’s favorite class, she wanted nothing more at this school than to learn from the best.

Throughout the entire class, Max couldn’t help but notice one girl eyeing the Mr. Jefferson in a lewd way. She sat near the front and clad in very posh attire – it definitely made her stand out. She had short golden-blonde hair and looked like she was peeved about something.

‘ _ Maybe that’s just how her face is.’ _ Max thought and tried to hold back a laugh at how accidentally mean that thought was.

Almost like she could read her thoughts, the girl quickly glanced over at Max. It caught Max off guard and she jumped a little in her seat, knocking her knees into the top of the desk. Luckily for her it wasn’t loud, but it made the girl smirk at Max and turn back to face the professor.

She probably wouldn’t be someone Max was going to befriend as easily.

When class ended, Max walked outside into the courtyard and grabbed her headphones out of her jacket pocket. She turned and saw a familiar face approaching her. Quickly, she shoved her headphones back into her pocket. Max wanted nothing more than the relief of music consuming her attention, but she also wasn’t going to complain about making friends. She just wasn’t used to all the attention, she was usually doing things on her own.

“Hey Max!” Warren walked over to her and had a flash drive in his hand. He held it out to her

and smiled, “You mentioned you’ve never seen any of the  _ Lord of the Rings _ movies I talked about and I figured I would put them together for you and give you them tomorrow but, now you have a head start!”

Max stared down at his hand with the small rectangle and then back up to him. “Really?” She inquired, shocked by how nice he was after just meeting her.

Warren nodded quickly and Max took the flash drive from him, putting it in her back pocket, “I’ll watch one tonight for sure.” Max’s eyes scanned over to the middle of the courtyard could see Chloe standing by a few guys who were skateboarding. She was leaning against the concrete statue.

Chloe looked over and caught sight of Max, who had quickly looked back at Warren to not be caught staring  _ again _ .

“You going to do that optional assignment?” Warren asked regarding the chemistry video the teacher told them to watch ahead of time for some extra points.

“Maybe, I mean I wasn’t really thinking about it but I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” Max replied, looking back over to Chloe who was still looking at her and Warren. She didn’t have the usual sneer, she was just watching the two. She was examining them to see what would happen.

“Come by my dorm! It’ll only take an hour tops I promise.” Warren’s face lit up and Max knew he must have been very excited to ask her. She agreed and they walked over to his dorm room together. Max caught sight of of Chloe as they walked by, and saw her roll her eyes and turn back to the people she was standing with.

_ ‘Was she mad?’ _ Max thought to herself and shrugged it off as she went to Warren’s dorm.

His room was very clean and tidy, but it was also only day one of school. The lack of extra roommate was also a common factor as to why most dorms don't look as chaotic. They sat in front of his computer and worked on the assignment together, having moments of geeking out and learning more about each other. Max was happy to make another friend so quickly.

When Max was leaving, Warren offered to walk her back to her dorm. They started their way over to the Girls’ Dormitories and when they got outside, Max figured she would show Warren some of her photography she had on her.

“223, 222, 221, and here.” Max turned and gestured to her dorm, “Room 219!” She smiled at him and pulled out her key. She froze and internally scolded herself for completely forgetting about Chloe, who was probably back already.

“What’s wrong Max? Door not working?” Warren inquired, leaning down to check on the handle.

“No I got it!” Max shifted to block him and stared intently at the handle, trying to figure out what to do. The door unlocked from inside and Max grabbed the handle before it opened.

“Max?” Warren asked, the confusion lacing his voice. Max was holding the door closed as tightly as she could and looked over her shoulder at Warren, “Sorry Just gotta-”

_ THUD. _

Max fell forward into the room as the door swung open completely. She grabbed onto the first object she could to balance herself, which ended up being Chloe’s arm.

“You think you’re stronger than me Max? Really?” Chloe teased down at Max and looked up at Warren, “We don’t want any.”

Max straightened herself quickly and lightly pushed Chloe, “Don’t be a jerk, he’s just looking at my photos.”

Chloe grabbed Max’s hands as she pulled them back and yanked them forward. She twisted Max and held her hands behind her back, using her free hand to tuck into Max’s shirt and tickle her ribs.

“S-Stop! Ahaha C-Chloe stop!” Max laughed loudly. Chloe still knew her most ticklish spot on her body. Max’s body jerked and quivered until she fell onto her knees laughing.

“Sorry! We’re a bit busy.” Chloe told Warren with a shrug. He continued to look incredulous at the situation and nodded, “Oh okay, well show me some other time, Max. See ya tomorrow!” He waved at Max on the floor. Chloe was now straddling her back and pinning her hands behind her back with one hand while continuing to tickle her ribs with the other.

“Bye!” Chloe exclaimed as Warren walked down the hall and the door shut closed. Chloe stopped her assault on Max and clapped her hands together, “Well well, took care of that.”

Max breathed heavily below Chloe, moving her freed hands to her sides and turned her head to the side to look at Chloe in her peripheral.

“Why’d you do that? Warren just wanted to hang out for a bit.” Max asked as she tried to pull away from Chloe who, of course, didn’t budge.

“I didn’t want any stinky boys with cooties in here.” Chloe said playfully. Max scoffed and tried to get up, but Chloe pushed her back down and Max fell onto her back.

Max’s hands were pinned at her side and she was looking up at Chloe. Her short hair whispering across her cheeks as she leaned forward, her necklace tracing across Max’s exposed neck. Max felt Chloe’s thighs tighten around her hips, or maybe she was just aware of the sensation more now. She couldn’t think with Chloe hovering over her.

Chloe’s silence made Max’s heart thud in her chest quicker. She didn’t want Chloe to move, she didn’t want anything but this moment and she didn’t know why. It didn’t feel uncomfortable, it was just a silence between the two staring at each other. The air between them felt completely still and heavy, almost tangible. Her eyes kept locked onto Chloe’s and she couldn’t look away. The look in Chloe’s eyes was something she’d never seen before in her, and she began wondering if her eyes looked the same.

_ RING. RING. _

Chloe’s body shuddered at the sound of her phone going off. She quickly loosened her grip on Max’s arms and got off of her to walk over to her phone. Max sat up from her position, looking down at the space on her wrists where Chloe’s grasp once was. ‘ _ What just happened? _ ’ She thought to herself as she began hearing the conversation Chloe was having.

“Yeah, sure thing. I can be there in ten. Just give me a bit.” Chloe went silent waiting for a response and then hung up.

“You’re going?” Max asked, standing up and picking her bag off the floor.

Chloe grabbed a jacket and threw it over her shoulder, “Yup. You’re in luck, now you got the place to yourself. Just don’t get too freaky with that boy okay, don’t wanna see his junk everywhere when I get back.”

“But, where are you…” Max began and trailed off. She felt she had no place in asking about Chloe’s plans and who she was with him she still wanted to know, “Are you seeing that girl?”

‘ _ Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.’ _ Max thought to herself. She wished she could just go back and undo that thought from even crossing her mind, ‘ _ Who cares who Chloe is seeing? _ ’ She didn’t know why she suddenly cared, but she knew Chloe’s expression said it all.

“Aw, Max you miss me already? That’s cute, and yeah I am, why?” Chloe inquired as she finished grabbing her things.

“Nothing, sorry, just please don’t be loud coming in okay?” Max walked over and sat on her bed, “You’ll probably be back late?”

Chloe laughed and nodded, “We’ll see.” She shot Max a wink and left the room.

A puzzle with pieces from multiple different puzzle boards was what Chloe was. Max knew no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t figure this mystery girl out. The problem was that now she was confusing herself and she couldn’t shake off our questions as she lay in bed and drifted into sleep, hoping for an easier day to come.

 


	4. Worlds have Collided

**A/N: Thank you all again for the reviews and kudos! I really do appreciate it :)**

* * *

“Yeah baby, fuck yeah, keep it going.”

_What?_

“Oh my god, harder, don’t fucking tease me, fuck me!”

_Who is that?_

Max opened her eyes slowly, looking at her wall and adjusting to being awake. Her throat felt dry and her eyes were struggling to stay open. She couldn’t figure out why she had woken up, and then heard the voices again.

“Move your leg, just like that yeah. Oh my fucking god you’re so fucking wet.”

Max’s heart hammered in her chest and she felt a shiver run from her neck to the tips of her ears. She didn’t want to turn around, she couldn’t. She knew exactly what was happening.

‘ _Don’t do it Max. Don’t._ ’ She thought to herself, trying to just fall back asleep. Her curiosity and intrigue as always got the better of her and she slowly turned around to face Chloe’s bed.

Her eyes shot open and she felt her body paralyzed when she saw Chloe. She was completely naked on top of the girl that Max presumed was the girl from the phone call. Max looked at Chloe’s body glimmering with sweat, her legs were straddling onto the girl’s waist and legs as she thrusted her hips in a slow rhythm. Chloe arched her body and threw her head back, a small smile escaping past her breathy moan while her hair stuck to her neck.

Max couldn’t look away, she couldn’t afford to even blink and miss how beautiful Chloe looked and how elegantly her body moved. The moonlight that filtered into the room, illuminating the curves and dips in her muscles. Her chest was exposed as she leaned even further back and the rounds that Chloe had hidden from Max before were perked up and swaying with Chloe’s gyration. Beads of sweat trickled down her chest and vanished into the valley between chest, glistening as they curved down.

A hand came up and grabbed onto Chloe’s breast, playing with her nipple in between the digits and Max felt a pang in her chest. She registered that the position Chloe was in with this girl and remembered how they were in a similar situation just earlier. Max felt something within her that she couldn’t figure out, but it was making her want to stop them.

Was she jealous? No that can’t be it, but she knew for sure the moment the girl had touched Chloe’s body, that Max didn’t want to look anymore. She shut her eyes and forced herself back into sleep.

She didn’t dream that night, and Max Caulfield always dreamed vividly.

The next day when Max woke up, she immediately looked over at Chloe’s bed. It was empty besides the tousled over bed sheets hanging onto the floor and the pillows wedged between the bed and the wall.

Max got ready and hurried off to Chemistry. When she got into class, she sat in the desk behind Warren. He was already there and before he had a chance to speak, Max was immediately on a tangent of apologies, “I’m so sorry about that Warren. She’s just so overbearing and blunt i didn’t mean for you to go and I’ll show you photos today I promise and we can watch Lord of the Rings and I’m so sorry.”

Warren bit back a smile and cut off Max by putting a finger to her mouth, “Max! It’s fine. Your friend was pretty hilarious, she got you good. Don’t worry, we can tonight no problem.”

Max smiled at Warren and nodded as he turned back around to face the front of the room. Max got to class just a few minutes before it started today, and she saw no sign of Chloe.

‘ _Probably with that girl._ ’ Max thought to herself and kicked herself for still thinking about it, ‘ _It’s fine just let it go. I can talk to her about that later._ ’

Chloe marched into the room as the bell rang and started down the rows, prodding the chair next to Max over and plopping herself down onto it.

Max sighed, not wanting to face Chloe so early in the day. She kept her eyes forward and was shocked to see Chloe pull out a notebook and pencil.

“Hey, thanks for saving me a seat!” Chloe nudged Max with her elbow and Max moved her arm away, “Yeah no problem.” Her reply sounded as genuine as she felt.

“Hey War-head.” Chloe said to Warren and he turned around, giving a small wave and turning back to face the front.

As the teacher began class, Max felt a sensation on her leg. She peered down and saw Chloe’s hand on her thigh. The feeling made her body shudder and her leg quiver.

Max tilted her head slowly and moved her eyes to look at Chloe, who was looking at her already. She nudged her head toward her hand and Max looked back down.

‘ _Does she want me to do something? Hold her?_ ’ Max thought, not moving at all as to not make any wrong moves. She wasn’t sure what Chloe wanted, but she was completely frozen under her touch.

Chloe’s hand finally moved away and a small piece of paper was on Max’s thigh. She pulled her hand back fully and Max quickly reached down and opened up the note. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes shook reading the note over and over to make sure she was reading it correctly.

_Got front a row seat last night, liked what you saw?_

Max stiffened in her seat, her breath hitched, and she crumpled the paper between her fingers. She dropped it onto the floor and continued to look forward, she didn’t want to give Chloe the satisfaction of a reaction.

Chloe scooted over toward Max until their chairs bumped into each other. She tilted over so her shoulder was touching Max’s. She leaned forward, her hand crossing over Max’s and exposing her tattoo which always caught Max’s gaze no matter how many times she had seen it now. Chloe turned her head, her face inches from Max’s and her warm breath tickling Max’s ear as she spoke, “Some help Max?”

Max snapped out of her trance and looked over at where Chloe’s arm was reaching across her, seeing the textbook in her grasp. She quickly looked around the room and saw that everyone was opening up their textbooks. The teacher finished writing a page number on the board and Max felt the warmth rise in her cheeks from how distracted she had been.

“I don’t have mine, we gotta share.” Chloe said as she tugged the book and retracted her arm back, bringing it between her and Max.

Max’s breathing steadied and she looked over at Chloe, who was looking back at her with a smug look, “You all good there Maxie?”

Max moved her arms and shoulder away from Chloe’s as she adjusted in her seat, “You don’t even go here why do you care so much about the reading.”

“Because it’s fun.” Chloe replied

“Chemistry?” Max inquired as she flipped the book open.

“No, you.” Chloe said under her breath.

Max gulped as she flipped the book open, looking to the board to see the page number and adjusting it so Chloe could see it clear.

“Can you see?” Max whispered as the class fell silent

Chloe nodded and leaned in close to Max, their arms brushing against each other as her eyes scanned over the texts.

Max looked down at their bare arms touching and she could feel her hairs raising. She kept her face toward the book but glanced over at Chloe. Her eyes moved down the curvature of her jaw and stopped at her lips. Chloe brought her lower lip into her mouth and grazed it over her top, releasing it back with a saturated sheen.

Max quickly looked down at her arm when she felt a nudge against it. She turned her head to Chloe, who was already looking at her and raised an eyebrow while nodding her head toward the book, “Done? You can’t be that slow.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Max said quietly as she turned the page. The class read quietly for another twenty minutes, Max waiting for Chloe to nudge her whenever she was ready to turn the page. It was a little system they had going that was successful in them both finishing up when the time was over.

The teacher instructed the class to break into groups of four to answer a worksheet that was being passed out. Warren instinctively turned around to face Chloe and Max. The student next to Warren turned around as well to join the group.

“Hey, mind if I join?” Warren said, mainly looking over at Max.

“Not at all, glad to have you on board.” Max said to Warren with a sweet smiled. He reciprocated the gentle smile as he handed her the group paper.

Chloe rolled her eyes and flicked the edge of Max’s paper so it flipped up, “Okay we gonna do this or what?”

“Yeah, let’s see here.” Max put everyone’s name on the paper except the fourth member who stayed quiet and meek.

“You got this right?” Chloe asked him, pointing at him with Max’s pencil.

He stayed quiet, he was very shy it seemed. He nodded and pulled out his pencil and started to work silently on the questions.

“We should help too-” Max began and Chloe cut her off by prodding Max’s cheek with her pencil eraser.

“So Warren, what did you and Maxie get to last night?” She asked with a cunning smirk trailing her question.

Max sighed and flicked her hand toward Chloe, “Ignore that please Warren.”

Warren chuckled and shrugged, “We worked on the extra credit together and hung out, it was fun.”

“Oh, got in some extra work done together? Did you give her a _hand_?” Chloe’s eyes twinkled at her emphasis.

Warren looked perplexed, trying to figure out what Chloe was getting at but just nodded in response. The rest of class consisted of Chloe asking Warren random questions about himself while the other group member finished up the assignment. Warren took the questions pretty well and even had a few jabs back at Chloe regarding her sudden attack on Max.

As class ended, the group dispersed and headed their separate ways. Max was going to take a walk around campus, her headphones in her ears as she started down the hallway.

She felt a sudden tug on her arm and she turned to see Chloe yanking her. Max pulled away and looked up at Chloe, who had pinched her earbuds and tugged them out.

“You’re coming with me.” Chloe stated and smiled as she took out her car keys from her pocket and jingled them between her fingers. She had an adventurous and eager look spread through her smile and Max knew there was no way out of this.

“Okay but only for a little while, I-”

“Have class blah blah don’t worry you’ll be back in time.” Chloe grabbed Max’s hand in hers and started for the back entrance of the building. They walked together behind the campus to a secluded parking lot that had run down fences and paint splattered across the floor.

“Where we are?” Max asked while looking back, trying to find Blackwell in the distance. They had traversed quite far from the main part of campus and were in another part of the area Max wasn’t familiar with. They stopped in front of a rusted white pickup truck.

Chloe spun her keys around her finger and kicked the underside of the truck, “Since I’m not _actually_ a student, I don’t have a parking spot so I have to get creative.” She flashed a quick smile at Max, “Our chariot awaits.”

Max was bewildered at the circumstance at first, but was quickly learning that nothing was too far-fetched for Chloe. Max rounded the truck and yanked the rickety door open. She peered around the interior at all the bottles, food containers, and varying other items sprawled around. Chloe hopped in the driver’s seat and shoved all the contents in the passenger seat onto the floor.

Max sat inside as Chloe started up the truck and exited toward the main road. They sat in silence for a bit as Chloe fiddled with the radio station. She gave up after smacking it with her fist and leaned back against her seat.

“Where are we going?” Max spoke up in lieu of the silence. Even though they had been best friends for most of their lives, Max was afraid of having too long of a silence between them. The past few moments had been tense and confusing for Max.

“Two Whales.” Chloe responded bluntly. She fiddled with her phone in her lap as she drove.

“What’s that?” Max asked, the name not being familiar in her memory of Arcadia Bay.

“A strip club. We’re gonna rock your world Max.” Chloe said between a smug grin.

Max rolled her eyes and played with the strap of her bag in her lap, “So, last night.”

“Finally. Was waiting to see how long it would take you to ask.” Chloe perked up and looked between Max and the road, “Yes?”

Max shook her head, “You seem too excited about this. I just wanted to know if that was going to happen...frequently.”

Max felt the heat begin to build in her cheeks, this conversation was already making her nervous. The enthusiastic look on Chloe’s face made Max feel even more uncomfortable.

“If it happens frequently then I’m a lucky girl aren’t I?” Chloe joked, “But I’ll try to keep it down next time. I didn’t keep you awake too late did I? You didn’t seem to mind.”

Max crossed her arms, “What was I gonna do? Get up and pull you apart? You’re not being a very easy fake-roommate.”

“Guess that’s the price of living with a _Price_.” Chloe said while trying her best to not burst out laughing.

Max audibly scoffed and slumped back in her chair. The two rolled up to a diner that was towered by a large sign with a whale atop the border. ‘ _That makes more sense_ ’ Max thought as they parked and headed inside. It was pretty quiet as they entered, only a few people sitting at the counter having coffee and reading newspapers. It had an old-school style to it, and also felt very nostalgic.

They walked to the back and sat across from each other in a booth. “Alright, time for some grub.” hopped in her seat and leaned over the table and brought a hand up to the side of her mouth, “I heard the waitress here is a hottie.” She whispered.

Max should have known Chloe would be the one to scout out the restaurants with attractive workers. She leaned with her cheek in her palm and fiddled with her fork. She sat quietly as Chloe stared out the window and realized this was their first long silence together.

“So, you over boys now?” Max asked softly. She wanted to sound genuine while not insinuating anything.

Chloe turned to look at Max, she looked taken aback by the statement. She was about to respond when a woman walked up to their booth.

“Max?” The woman spoke up. Her familiar voice warmed Max. She smiled up at the woman, “Joyce, it’s great to see you again.”

“Likewise, I heard you’d be coming back for school. You can keep an eye on this one over here.” She joked while nudging Chloe with her notepad.

“Hey I’ve been doing great okay?” Chloe snatched Joyce’s notepad from her and leaned over to grab a pen from her apron.

Joyce swatted her hand away and looked back at Max, “How was Seattle?” She placed two menus in the center of the table.

“It was a lot of fun there! My parents really love it up there. How’s everything here been?” Max looked around the diner, “This place new?”

Joyce shook her head, “Not entirely, but it was built a little after you left.” Max felt her heart sink in her chest. She knew Joyce wasn’t as bitter as Chloe, but she could hear in her voice that she wasn’t happy with the sudden move.

“We sure did miss you out here.” Joyce said gently.

Max eyed over at Chloe. She was looking down at the menu, but it didn’t really feel like she was reading it. Her expression was somber, hurt even.

“I missed you both too, more than you know.” Max said.

There was another silence and Joyce grabbed her notepad from Chloe’s lap, “What can I get you both?”

“Pancakes.” Chloe and Max said at the same time. They looked up at each other and started laughing.

Joyce smiled at them and nodded, “You got it. Some things never change huh?” She took the menus and headed behind the counter to the kitchen.

“She hasn’t changed much has she.” Max asked

Chloe looked up while she placed both her hands behind her head, “No not really, except for her taste in men.”

Max stayed quiet, waiting for Chloe to elaborate. Chloe dropped her arms down quickly and leaned forward, “She decided to marry this asshole, when she deserves so much better. He’s one of the reasons I don’t want to be at home.”

Max nodded, “I can understand that.” She sat still, thinking, before proceeding to ask, “What other reason are you? If you don’t mind me asking…” Her voice was gentle, she feared that she would hit a nerve with Chloe since this topic seems sensitive. Walking on eggshells might be the only way she can learn more about Chloe’s life.

“Well.” Chloe began, not sounding irritated like Max had predicted, “When you left, my life was falling apart and I was losing sight of what was important. I just stopped caring and did anything that gave me a rush. I wanted to feel alive in the most destructive ways, and then I met a girl.”

Max scanned over Chloe’s body as she spoke, noticing how fragile she looked when she opened herself up. A part of her felt like she didn’t deserve to see this side of Chloe yet, but she wasn’t going to take it for granted.

“She came at a time in my life when I needed direction and a sense of realizing my own mortality. I stopped being so reckless and just spent all my time with her. Yeah we would do stupid shit and go on adventures but, she had dreams and goals. All I wanted was to see her succeed and grow into someone the world deserves to know. Her name was” Chloe paused, catching her statement, “Is Rachel.”

“Does she go to Blackwell?” Max asked, but was interrupted by Joyce approaching the table with two stacks of pancakes. She placed them down on the table. They thanked her and began eating, halting their conversation.

Max wanted to ask more, so much more about Chloe and this girl she seemed infatuated with. However, if Chloe wanted to say more she would have continued and Max didn’t want to pry into something delicate to Chloe. This was the first conversation they’d had that didn’t end with Chloe barking back snide remarks or being upset at Max, so she didn’t want to ruin it. She was fascinated by Chloe, she had become such an enigma and Max felt tethered to her.

“You’re staring.” Chloe spoke up from her pancakes.

Max immediately became flustered and furiously cut into her pancakes, “No, no I’m not. Sorry.” She hated how such she fumbled her words. Chloe eyed her and smiled at Max’s reaction.

She stood up suddenly and pointed with her thumb towards the entrance, “I’m gonna use the lil’ ladies room.” She headed to the restroom.

Max waited until Chloe was out of view and slumped in her seat with hung her head back. ‘ _Why am I such a nervous wreck around her?_ ’ She closed her eyes, ‘ _She probably thinks I’m an idiot_.’

Her phone’s vibration caught her off guard and she sat up quickly, grabbing it and unlocking it to read the message.

_Hey, can you come here? My bra is being dumb._

“What the fuck.” Max muttered at her phone. She looked over at where she saw Chloe go for the restroom and stood up, walking over to go find her.

She stepped into the bathroom, there were two stalls. The smaller stall had the door closed and Max could see Chloe’s boots underneath the door.

“What’s going on?” Max asked from behind the door.

“Hey, come in.” Chloe unlocked the stall and Max hesitantly walked in. Chloe closed and locked the stall door behind her. She turned around and lifted up her shirt so her exposed back was facing Max, “Can you adjust the strap?” She slightly lifted her right shoulder twice to indicate which strap.

Max looked around the stall, looking to see if there was another reason for her being there. She stepped forward and shifted her body in the small space they had. She reached out and pinched the strap between her fingers. Her hand traced along Chloe’s back as smoothed down the lengths of the strap. Max looked at Chloe’s back, at her soft skin, at the goosebumps followed where her finger touched.

Chloe hung her head to the side, relaxing her shoulders and releasing a breathy exhale. Max felt a pressure throb below her and the space between them began to feel heavy again.

Chloe’s reaction made Max want to stroke her skin again, but even gentler this time. She looked at the strap, seeing it set perfectly against her back and froze her fingers, realizing there was nothing wrong with it.

Knowing what the pause meant, Chloe turned around and stepped towards Max, pinning her against the bathroom wall. Max froze, looking up at Chloe who had locked steady eye contact with her. Her eyes narrowed and were hooded with lust. She bit her lower lip into her mouth as Max’s eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape.

Chloe brought her hand up and traced her finger along Max’s jaw line, “You asked before, if I was done with boys?” She leaned in close, the tips of their noses grazing.

Max was almost sure Chloe could hear her heart thrashing in her chest, she gulped and nodded slowly. She couldn’t think, or even act. She was held in a trance by Chloe’s gaze.

Chloe ran her finger from Max’s jaw to her lower lip, slowly brushing across it while she moved her head closer until her lips were grazing Max’s ear.

“ _This_ is why.”

All at once, the heat and heaviness pulled out from the space between them as the bathroom door flung open, causing Chloe to move away from the area she had consumed around Max. The two had fallen silent as the sound of footsteps reverberated into the neighboring stall. Max exhaled in one, sudden gasp, as if she had just come up for air underwater. Submerged, it perfectly described how Chloe made Max feel.

Chloe smirked and left the bathroom stall, leaving Max alone in her thoughts. Max looked down at her hands, her palms were clammy.

‘What’s going on. What just happened?’ Max slide down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She needed something, anything, to keep her feeling grounded, because her head was lost in the clouds.


	5. Stuck on Repeat

“It doesn’t matter what quality camera you have, or how much money you spend.”

 

Max stared ahead at Mark Jefferson, the man she yearned to learn from in her favorite subject, and she could not have been less invested in the topic. She couldn’t concentrate on anything after what happened earlier.

 

“This is because ultimately, you can get a beautiful, emotional shot with any equipment as long as the one behind the camera is feeling the emotion. It’s all in the feeling.”

 

_Feeling._

 

Flashed of Chloe threaded through Max’s mind of her smile, her eyes, her bare skin, her breathy and lustful voice. Max shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying to get the thoughts out of her head.

 

She looked down at her phone constantly, as if she was expecting a message. She was watching the time tick by slowly, she doesn’t know what she was waiting for. Anxious in her seat, she looked around the room to the other students engrossed in the lecture. She quickly grabbed her pen to try and involve herself in the lecture, writing down the first thing she heard.

 

“Much like a flash on a camera, attention can be _lost_ easily in on quick instance.”

 

Max wrote the statement and stopped mid-sentence, processing the meaning. She slowly tilted her head upward and saw the teacher looking right at her.

 

“Have I lost your interest Miss…” He looked down at a roster and looked back up at her, “Caulfield?”

 

Max gulped, feeling the whole room turn and look at her, all eyes piercing into her. She finally got the attention of the man she admired and here he was reprimanding her for zoning out.  

 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

 

“Don’t apologize, just contribute if this is all too elementary for you.”

 

Max shook her head, “That’s not it at all.” Her voice grew quieter with every word. She wanted nothing more than for the attention to be averted anywhere else.

 

Mr. Jefferson smiled at Max and slapped his hand on the table, “Anyway, let’s move on.”

 

Max started for the courtyard of the school, her phone buzzing along the way. She pulled it out and saw it was a message from Warren.

 

_Let me know if you’re free tonight! Let’s watch a movie :)_

 

Warren was a nice guy, genuinely sweet. He was a friend that Max needed out here if she was going to keep her sanity.

 

_Sure thing! When?_

 

_After I’m done with my lab! I’ll text you._

 

_Okay!_

 

Max put her phone away and headed for her dorm. She approached her door and was about to unlock it when she heard an all too familiar sound.

 

“Yes! Oh my god, right there, fuck me. Right there!”

 

Max froze in front of her door, not knowing what to do. She decided to just wait outside until the two were finished and listen to music. She sat next to her door and pulled out her journal, doodling some images across the paged she had filled out. She started drawing a design and wasn’t aware until about halfway through that it resembled Chloe’s tattoo.

 

‘ _I’ve gotta get this girl out of my head._ ’ Max thought to herself. She heard a sudden _thump_ shake the ground and realized that the two were probably almost done. Hopefully.

 

Within the next few minutes, the door swung open and the unnamed frequent visitor started down the hallway for the women’s restroom in a towel. Max sighed and stood up, rounding the opened door.

 

“Oh hey Max!” Chloe said with a toothy grin, her hair was completely disheveled and she was in nothing but a long sweatshirt that went down to her thighs.

 

“Hi.” Max responded coldly. She still had her headphones in and passed by Chloe to get to her bed. As expected, Chloe’s bed was a tousled mess and falling off the rickety pseudo-frame.

 

“Okay…” Chloe said while closing the door, “Why the attitude?”

 

“Nothing.” Max responded candidly. She tossed her bag on the bed and kept her back to Chloe.

 

“Oh let me guess, I’m gonna have to drag it out of you and basically beg you to tell me what’s wrong right?” Chloe scoffed and leaned against the door, “Stop being such a girl about this, I thought you were better than that.”

 

Max threw her phone on the bed, tearing off her headphones and turned sharply to face Chloe, “You have no right to get on _me_ about being better. You’re making it really hard for me okay?”

 

Chloe leaned off the wall and approached Max, “Making what hard?”

 

“Living here! I can’t even come to my room without you and-” Max gestured to the door, “ _Whoever_ she is fucking all the time. It’s been less than a week and you can’t just tell your libido to calm down!?”Her face felt hot from the anger bubbling up.

 

Chloe eyed between Max’s, staying quiet for a moment before responding, “Max, you’re not...jealous are you?”

 

Max’s mouth opened completely with her hands up defensively, but she had nothing to say. She couldn’t answer the question truthfully.

 

“Oh Maxie.” Chloe said coyly and grabbed onto her hands, gently turning her so they switched positions. She stepped forward until Max was leaning against the door.

 

“What’re you doing?” Max asked softly as Chloe let go of her hands. Chloe trailed a finger down Max’s neck to her collarbone.

 

“Do you want this?” Chloe whispered softly. Max stiffened from her words and didn’t know what to say or what to do. She was entranced in Chloe’s eyes that were completely fixated onto her.

 

Chloe kept her gaze, keeping her finger going down the crevice of Max’s chest, the indentation on Max’s shirt tracing of her touch. She slowed down when her finger got to the top of her jeans.

 

Max suddenly felt all the air leaving the room, her breath hitched in her throat. She craned her hand down at Chloe’s finger that was twisting and entering into the top of her jeans. She leaned back against the door with more force, needing as much room as she could get.

 

“Is that a yes?” Chloe leaned forward and husked into Max’s neck. Max felt warmth permeate from the spot on her neck to the rest of her body. She didn’t even know what was going on but she didn’t want to lose this moment again like she did at the diner, or before when they were on the floor. She didn’t know what she wanted, but she knew whatever _this_ was, she didn’t want to stop.

 

Max nodded gently and Chloe’s gripped onto Max’s jeans, unbuttoning them and yanking them down to her ankles. Before Max could even register what happened, Chloe was back up to her face and had her hand slipping gentled over the top of Max’s underwear.

 

‘ _This is happening. Fuck this is happening’_ Max repetitively thought to herself as she arched her back and leaned her pelvis forward, beckoning Chloe to advance. She wasn’t sure what to do, but Chloe seemed to have enough experience and fervor.

 

Gripping the tips of the laced fabric, Chloe yanked down Max’s underwear down, this time coming back up slowly. Max suddenly felt more aware of herself and exposed. A blush spread across her face and she looked away from Chloe.

 

“Hey stop that.” Chloe said quietly as she turned Max’s face to meet hers. She used one hand to lift up Max’s leg at her knee and with her other hand, she slowly slide her fingers through Max’s center.

 

“O-Oh fuck.” Max gasped out, the sensation was overwhelming. Tingled spread across her body and she arched her back, grabbing onto the wall for support. Chloe kept her forehead against Max’s and slowly slide two fingers inside of Max.

 

“Nhmm-Oh fuck.” Max said between panting. Chloe began sliding her fingers in and out of Max slowly, coating her fingers with Max’s moisture. The feeling of Chloe slipping inside of her was something she had never known to be so intoxicating. She leaned up and looked at Chloe. She wanted nothing more in this passionate moment than to kiss the beautiful girl before her.

 

She pulled her lips towards Chloe’s, tilted her head and closing her eyes. She felt her lips brush Chloe’s cheek and when she opened her eyes she noticed that Chloe turned her face away from her. Max was curious as to why she avoided something much less provocative than what they were doing.  Her thoughts were cut off when Chloe began curling her fingers inside of Max, bringing a new pleasure sensation.  

 

“Hey Chloe! Open up!”

 

Chloe and Max halted completely, stopping their movements and looked back at each other.

 

“Chloe?” Called the girl from outside the door.

 

“Yeah hold on!” Chloe called back. Max began to move her leg away from Chloe’s grasp, remembering the girl and that these two had _just_ been busy not too long ago.

 

“Wait. No.” Chloe whispered while she tightened her grip on Max’s leg.  A mischievous grin on her face, “We don’t have to stop.” She began pumping her fingers in and out of Max more swiftly. She leaned in and nibbled on Max’s ear lobe, “But you just need to be quiet.”

 

Max felt her heart pounding in her chest again. This wasn’t just sex anymore, this was them trying to _hide_ sex while Chloe’s ‘girlfriend’ was on the other side of the door. Max felt a rush realizing how devious they were being. But she didn’t feel bad, she didn’t want to stop but she also felt wrong for continuing.

 

“Do you want me to stop?” Chloe asked, slowing her movements.

 

Max shook her head and started moving her hips in rhythm with Chloe’s fingers thrusting deep in her.

 

“There’s a good girl.” Chloe whispered, “Good girls fuck back.” She started to lunge her hips in motion with her hand and kept increasing her speed.

 

Max was fighting hard to bite back from moaning too loud. The girl was saying things on the other side of the door but Max couldn’t hear it. She couldn’t hear anything anymore except for Chloe’s breath against her own.

 

Max leaned forward and grabbed onto Chloe’s back, while still having her lower half against the door. She felt something inside her tightening, a pressure building that she couldn’t describe. Chloe thrusting inside of her gave her an overwhelming need for something, a release.

 

“Come on Max.” Chloe husked sensually, her words full of desire, “Cum for me.” She curled her fingers as she thrust deep and hard inside of Max.

 

Max felt her head rush and her body shake from pleasure spreading to every nerve ending. She threw her head back and let pieces of a moan crack through, beads of sweat dripping down her face, and her entire center shaking and throbbing uncontrollably.

 

The waves of pleasure slowed down through her and her body felt weak and numb. Chloe gently dropped Max’s leg back onto the floor. Max kept her grip onto Chloe and looked up at the girl who was smiling back at her. This moment was sudden and unexplainable, but Max wanted nothing more than to finish it off with a kiss. She tried again to lean forward and Chloe stepped back, motioning down to Max’s pants.

 

“Okay sorry, had to freshen up!” Chloe called out, looking back at Max and shooting her a wink, “I’ll open up.”

 

Max quickly bent down, using her leg almost feeling foreign now with how much they were still shaking, and pulled up her pants and underwear quickly. She stumbled towards her bed and plopped down, throwing her covers over her as Chloe opened the door.

 

“About time.” The girl spoke up. She walked over and sat on Chloe’s bed, “Your roommate?” She asked

 

Chloe nodded, “Yup. Don’t worry she’s asleep.”

 

“Oh perfect.” The girl responded, “I should get going though. I have class soon.”

 

There was a silence for a moment. Max had her back to the two so she couldn’t see what was happening.

 

“Well, I mean I know you just showered but, round two?” Chloe asked

 

“Nothing changes with you does it?” The girl spoke up before another thud was heard on Chloe’s bed.

 

Max felt her heart sink down. One moment, she felt something she had never felt with anyone before. An intimacy that was unexplainable but so beautiful, she felt so close to this girl who she had estranged from her life. Now, the sounds of someone else receiving the pleasure she had just obtained mad Max feel sick.

 

She slipped her hand to her headphones that were sprawled on her bed and put them in her ear. She turned the volume on as loud as she could bear, hoping to drown out the pain while she forced herself to sleep.

 

The figure stepped closer, then further. Closer again. It picked up something, what was it? The girl showed  up again, trapped. She was more discernible now, her hair was long and unkempt over her face. Was she crying? Screaming? The figure approached her like it had before. It leaned down, broad shoulders hunching over her. Was it a man? Who was he?

 

A loud sound echoed suddenly, fading away the images with its resonance.

 

Max’s eyes shot open. Shooting up from her position, she felt something trickle down her neck onto her lap. The sound hadn’t come from her headphones, she turned to the window and saw an all-too familiar scene. Chloe was sitting in the windowsill, looking out while engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Max watched Chloe slowly bring the joint in between her fingers and hold it in, exhaling slowly. The smoke poured into the room, but hovered around Chloe until the wind picked up and pulled it back outside.

 

It was dark out, but there were lights on still. ‘ _Did I fall asleep too long?’_ Max thought when she pulled up her phone from its  blanket nest and saw it was 7:34PM. She had a missed call and a text from Warren.

 

_Max! Call me when you’re free, I’m ready for a movie :)_

 

He was probably still waiting for her considering the time stamp on the text was about half an hour ago. She pivoted her body and plopped her feet onto the floor.

 

“Morning sunshine.”

 

Max looked over at Chloe as she hopped back inside the room and put out her joint in the ash tray.

 

“Hey,” Max said back coldly.

 

“You cranky?” Chloe asked  as she closed the window shut behind her. Max shook her head and started pulling a jacket over her shoulders. She grabbed onto her bag and started for the door.

 

“Where you going?” Chloe called out more firmly.

 

“Warren’s.” Max responded. She kicked herself for responding so easily to Chloe’s questions. If only she were as good as Chloe at diverting questions.

 

“Oh? Gonna have a slumber party?” Chloe teased, she walked over and sat back down on her bed that was relatively in better condition.

 

Max rolled her eyes and pointed to Chloe’s bed, “Like you and your _friend_?”

 

Chloe shrugged, “She’s just a girl.”

 

“Am I just..?” Max asked coldly under her breath, but trailed off. She didn’t want to start something. This wasn’t the right time to bring this up, but was there a right time? This was probably just another random hook up for Chloe, no further meaning.

 

“What’s your damage dude?” Chloe narrowed her eyebrows in confusion, “Are you mad at me?”

 

Max shook her head, “Nevermind, yeah I’m just hanging out there.”

 

“Use protection.” Chloe said with a smirk and Max sighed as she left the room. She sent Warren a text update and started down the hallway through though the doors outside.

 

It was dark and gave the courtyard a very different atmosphere. What was once lined with sunlight, laughs and conversations, and people trickling of people in and out of class was now replaced with a sullen emptiness. The statues that stood proudly in front of campus were dark ominous figures. Being out in the dark always made Max feel eerie, but she didn’t want to be afraid of the dark forever.

 

She crossed over the lawn toward the boy’s dormitories. A figure by the front of the campus caught her attention in her peripheral. Her pace slowed as she stopped behind a tree. Max didn’t know why she was sneaking or investigating into this person, but something about their presence felt bizarre. Max started walking toward them and stopped herself immediately.

 

‘ _What’re you doing Max? You’re not a detective, just keep going.’_ Max turned and headed on her initial path. She got to Warren’s dorm and he excitedly let her in. They spent the next couple of hours sitting on Warren’s bed and watching whatever funny science-fiction movie Warren pulled out from his stash. Something about balls or space. Max realized she was sitting close enough to Warren to lean on him comfortably.

 

‘ _Should I?_ ’ The idea buzzed around her head, but she didn’t know if she wanted to do it because she wanted to, or because she felt _obligated_ to. She peered over at his shoulder, and she wondered if he had an extravagant tattoo trailing down the length of his arm. She shook off the idea - of course he didn’t. She began wondering if Chloe had any other tattoos hidden that she hadn’t seen yet.

 

Chloe, already back on her mind. Even here with Warren she can’t shake off the thoughts of what happened earlier. Was that weird? Do friends just casually do that?

 

“You okay?”

 

Max was startled by Warren speaking up, she didn’t realize he had noticed her spacing out in her thoughts.

 

“Yeah sorry, just some stuff on my mind.” Max replied somberly. Warren flicked his finger over the touchpad and paused the film. He moved his laptop off his legs and placed it next to him.

 

“What’s goin’ on?” He turned to face her, “I mean, I know we just met but, I’m here to listen if you wanna talk about anything.”

 

Max smiled at him lightly, “Thank you. It’s nothing really, I think it’s just adjusting to a new school this first week has been harder than I thought it would be.”

 

“Yeah.” He looked down at his lap, “It was hard for me too, but I had the advantage that everyone else here was also new. It might be rough transferring your senior year, do you miss your friends back home?”

 

“Yeah, and my parents too. It’s weird going from living with them to just, being on my own.” Max couldn’t have expected such a different world than when she used to live here. Five years changes so much.

 

Warren looked back up at her, “Well, you’re not _all_ alone you know.”

 

Max eyed him silently, waiting on him to continue.

 

“Your friend Chloe.” Warren began, “She’s pretty attached to you it looks like.”

 

Max shook her head, “No, she’s got her own thing going.”

 

“I mean anytime I’ve seen her around it’s with you.” Warren shrugged, “But anyway, you’ve got me too, if you ever need a friend, anytime.” He looked nervous after his statement, as if he had to build up the courage to say it.

 

Max smiled, “Thank you.” She scooted off his bed and stood up. “Wanna finish another day? I think I’m gonna head back.”

 

Warren nodded and got up, walking her back to her dorm. There was no one in the courtyard this time, but then again it was almost curfew and nobody was allowed outside their dorms.   

When they arrived, Kate was sitting outside the front steps of the dormitory entrance.

 

“Thanks for walking me Warren, see you!” Max waved at Warren and walked over to Kate. She was completely absorbed in her phone that she didn’t notice Max approach her.

 

“Hey Kate!” Max perked up.

 

Kate jolted, dropping her phone and quickly scrambling to pick it up. Max tilted her head in confusion and let out a small laugh, “Did I scare you that bad?”

 

Kate shook her head and put her phone in her pocket, “No, I’m sorry, it’s just me.” She looked up at Max, “You’re getting back late.”

 

Max sighed and sat down next to Kate, “I know. I think I’ll do about anything to avoid my dorm.”

 

“You figured out that weird roommate situation? Did you bring it up with the principle?” Kate asked

 

Max was silent for a moment before she answered, “Surprisingly enough, I don’t want her to leave just as much as I want her to.”

 

Kate looked at Max with her eyebrow raised, completely confused by her sudden acceptance of the situation, “I thought you were furious and were going to kick her out yourself.”

 

Max shrugged, “She’s an old friend, and it’s been kinda fun being around her. Well, sometimes not the _most_ fun. It’s nice not being alone though.”

 

Kate looked down at her feet, “Not being alone is definitely nice.” She leaned over and wrapped her arms around her knees, “What’re you gonna do if they inspect our rooms? Or if someone says something?”

 

Max frowned, “I know, I could really put my academic status at risk. I didn’t think anyone would say anything, everyone I’ve met has been so nice.”

 

Kate pursed her lips, “You’d be surprised. Some people here aren’t what you’d expect.” She chuckled softly, “Why do you think I’m out here?”

 

Max felt her heart sink seeing Kate’s smile falter at her own words, “What do you mean? Who was it?”

 

Kate looked back down at her feet, “You probably don’t know them. It’s Victoria and her little posse. They always act like they own this dorm room.”

 

“Did they do something to you?” Max asked, trying to gently approach a potentially sensitive topic.

 

Kate just nodded but didn’t say anything. Max sat with her quietly for a bit and then stood up, “Let’s hang out soon okay Kate? Maybe tomorrow since it’s our first weekend? Not too much homework to deal with.”

 

Kate looked up at Max and smiled, she looked so genuinely excited by this plan and Max knew she couldn’t miss out on this no matter what.

 

Max started for the dorm but stopped when she heard her name.

 

“Max?”

 

Max turned to look at Kate, “Yeah?”

 

Kate put a finger up to her lips, “Your secret’s safe with me.”

 

It was a small gesture, but it was a promise of trust that made Max feel a little more connected to Kate. She was someone that was so fragile, but Max wanted to get to know her more. Especially since Kate seems to have a reason she keeps herself so guarded.

 

When Max entered into the dorms, she saw a group of girls laughing in the middle of the hall by the restrooms. They all had plastic bottles in their hands that _definitely_ weren’t filled with water.

 

‘ _Great._ ’ Max thought to herself and walked down the hallway. She eyed them as she passed by as one of the girls caught her gaze.

 

“Hey, who’re you?” She called out, she was more demanding than curious.

 

Max stopped in her tracks and looked at her, the other girls had also turned and were facing Max. She immediately felt anxious, almost like she was being preyed on.

 

“M-Max.” She answered, cursing herself for the nervous stutter she gets. When Max had fully scanned the girl, she realized this was the one from her photography class.

 

“Hey M-Max.” The girl mimicked with a slur, her minions giggling behind her, “Why you allllways just staring at me? Something you need to say?”

 

Her sudden confrontational attitude made Max even more nervous, even though she was intoxicated, and thus induced her back to silence. Instead she opted to just shake her head in response.

 

“Well.” The girl stepped forward, a misstep. She stumbled a little before continuing, “I’m Victoria.” She stuck her hand out. Max looked down at it and knew this wasn’t going to be a normal greeting. She obliged anyway and held out her hand. Victoria grabbed her hand and yanked her towards her. Max stumbled forward and Victoria looked down at max, their faces inches apart.

 

“Getting a good view?” Victoria mumbled, her breath reeked of liquor.

 

“Hey!”

 

They all turned to see Chloe walking out of the bathroom and approaching the group. “What’re you doing?” She marched right over to Victoria and pulled Max away from her.

 

“Just giving her a long and close view so she doesn’t have to _stare_ at me so much. Who the fuck are you?” Victoria raised her voice, eyeing between the two.

 

Chloe stood between Max and Victoria, it was a subtle movement. She clenched her fist at her side, “Listen, the only one who gets to harass Max over here is me, you got it? Why don’t you and your _Mean Girls_ rejects just fuck off?”

 

The girls behind Victoria gasped audibly, as if nobody had ever spoken back to Victoria before.

 

“What did you say?” Victoria husked under her breath.

 

Chloe crossed her arms, her divisive confidence emanating through her posture, “You heard me Barbie. Why don’t you and your groupies go back to drinking your wine coolers in your dorm okay?”

 

There was a silence as Victoria and Chloe stared each other down. This was one of those moments that Max superimposed what movies portrayed over what reality depicted. In this situation, Max was sure that Victoria would reluctantly retreat and her friends would follow behind, or that she could spit a retort right back at Chloe.

 

What she didn’t prepare for, was for Victoria to stumble back and then bend over, violently rejecting the contents of her stomach.

 

“Oh fuck!” Chloe yelled as she jumped back. She turned to quickly face Max and grabbed her hand, “Come on let’s go!” She said with a huge grin. They both sprinted down the hall while Victoria fell to the floor, her friends by her side trying to take care of her.

 

They got to the dorm room and slammed the door behind them, breaking into fits of laughter.

 

“I’ve had a lot of shit happen,” Chloe said between breaths, “But I’ve never _ever_ experienced something like that!”

 

Max nodded in agreement and walked over to Chloe, “I know right? I was worried for her, I doubt her friends know how to take care of her.” Max looked down at her feet then up at Chloe, “Thank you...for defending me, by the way.”

 

Chloe flashed a small smile at Max and grazed her thumb over her cheek, “No need to thank me. It’s true, only I can harass you and everyone else has to go through me first.”

 

Max felt her stomach flutter at the statement. Chloe didn’t express her emotions too much or showed care very often since she always gave up the careless badass persona. It was nice to see this side of her come out.

 

As they both fell silent, memories of earlier flashed through Max’s head and she suddenly felt an urge imbue through her, Chloe’s face softened as she saw her expression change. Max quickly turned and walked over to her bed, “I’m going to sleep, but thanks again!”

 

“No need to thank me Max.” Chloe repeated as she started to change out of her clothes, “How was your boyfriend’s?”

 

Max laughed and stretched out on her bed, “He’s not my boyfriend, just a friend.”

 

“I think he likes you, no boy hangs with a girl _this_ much who just wants to watch stupid movies.” Chloe threw a shirt over her head.

 

Max turned to face Chloe, “I mean, what if he does?” She felt more confident with her words.

 

“Then I guess I gotta make him puke too.” Chloe said while biting back a laugh.

 

Max rolled her eyes and watched Chloe shuffle around the room, putting some things together. Her eyes grew heavy and she began to drift off the sleep. It was the first weekend of the semester tomorrow and Max could definitely use some time away from class to just relax.

 

As the night rolled in and the darkness crept through the room, Max felt unaware of how deep into her sleep she was, or had she fallen asleep at all?

 

Something woke her up. When she blinked her tired eyes slowly, she saw a figure lying down with her. She tried not to startle herself too much, because she knew this scent. Arms extended and wrapped around her. She held her breath and felt the arms pull her and close the gap between them. A soft neck brushed against Max’s cheek and she relaxed into the warmth surrounding her.

  
Max closed her eyes and pretended she had been completely asleep, pretending she never noticed Chloe come into her bed. She knew that if she acknowledged Chloe, then she would retreat back to her own bed. Max didn’t know why this was happening, or what was going on between them, but if being unaware was all she had to do to maintain this closeness, then she’d keep the silence as long as Chloe wanted.


	6. In My Head

The morning sun rolled in and lit up the dorm room. Warmth trickled over Max’s face, her eyes opening slowly and adjusting to the morning. As expected, her bed was empty and Chloe wasn’t even in her own.

 

‘ _Was she even there? Did I imagine it?’_ The realization tugged at Max’s chest. Chloe didn’t seem like the cuddling type, but it felt completely real to Max.

 

She rolled off her bed and pulled her phone from off the desk. She had a missed call from Kate but no voicemail. That was always something that irked Max, because she couldn’t help worrying when there was no message behind the call.

 

She looked outside to check what she should wear. The sun was already out and there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. Max looked back down at her phone and laughed to herself.

 

‘ _I can’t believe I slept in until noon. First Saturday here and I’m already sleeping in like I did in middle school.’_  She walked to her closet and put on a pair of shorts with a black tank top. As she threw on her shoes she wondered if she would have to come back to _another_ Chloe and mystery girl session. She shook her head at the thought and walked out of her dorm and across the hall to Kate’s.

 

She knocked on Kate’s door a couple times and looked down at her feet as she waited. She shuffled them against the carpet and tilted one foot to its side.

 

‘ _These shoes are so old. I need new ones.’_ Her thought quickly left her mind as the door began to open.

 

“Hey sleepyhead!” Kate perked up and opened her door all the way, she stepped back to let Max in.

  
“Yeah yeah, I know _mom_.” Max said dismissively with a smile and walked inside, plopping herself on the bed, “How’s your morning been?”

 

Kate sat on her chair across from Max and looked to her side as she spoke, “Well I woke up around 11:30-”

 

“11:30?! So half an hour ago?” Max interjected, almost rising from her seat.

Kate laughed and nodded, “Yeah! I was just giving you a hard time. I only called about ten minutes ago.”

 

“I see.” Max began, “Well, aren’t you up to today?”

 

Kate shrugged, “Not much really. I was gonna get some laundry done at some point and maybe explore around campus a bit. What about you?”

 

Max raised her hands up, “Just this. No plans.”

 

“What’s your vagabond up to?” Kate teased and elicited a sudden snort from Max.

 

“Oh my god.” Max said between laughs, “First of all don’t call her _mine_ because I don’t need to be associated with her and her crazy at all, and secondly she has a name you know.”

 

Kate pivoted in her swivel chair left and right, “You know,  your ‘first’ and ‘second’ contradict each other a bit.”

 

Max scoffed and laid back on Kate’s bed, “Whatever! Vagabond it is.”

 

“It’s got a nice ring to it, and maybe overtly talking about her with her real name might cause some trouble for her since she’s not supposed to be here.” Kate said.

 

Max nodded while still staring up at Kate’s ceiling, “yeah, apparently her step-dad is a campus security here, so a nickname is a smart idea. I think pronouncing it _vag-_ abond fits her a lot better.”

 

Kate blinked at Max and stayed silent for a moment, processing what she said, “What? Is she gay? Did she make a move on you?”

 

Max was thankful that Kate couldn’t see her face, because her cheeks completely  warmed up, “S-She just...she always talks about girls and there’s a girl she always has over.”

 

Kate sighed, “So you have to deal with two roommates sometimes too? Max are you sure this is worth it?”

 

Max opened her mouth to retort but paused before she spoke. Kate was right, why was Max so fine with this? Anyone else would have gotten the situation figured out and reclaimed ownership of their first _normal_ school year.

 

“Well.” Kate began, realizing Max was lost in her thoughts, “Let me know if you ever need to crash here. I don’t have much space but I would hate for you to feel trapped in your own room.”

 

Max noded, even though Kate couldn’t see, “Thank you.” She sat up quickly and got on her feet. The sudden movement caused Kate to jump in her seat, “Wanna go do something?”

 

Kate stood up, “Yeah, I’m tired to hanging around this room all day anyway.” She grabbed her purse from off her desk and walked to her closet. She peered over her shoulder at Max and quickly turned to face her closet.

 

Max watched as Kate slipped off her pajama top - a thin tank-top underneath - and swiftly grab another shirt. The curvature of her back was a less defined than Chloe’s, and she didn’t house as exotic of a bra.

 

Catching herself, Max quickly turned and stared down at the floor.

 

‘ _Oh my god.’_  She thought to herself, ‘ _What am I doing? I need to stop.’_

 

She had never looked at a girl like that before. Or had she? Max had a tendency of being very observant, which usually led to her getting in trouble or defaulting to shying away. Maybe she was just more aware of her _leering_ because of Chloe.

 

“Wanna go by the bay? The water should be nice today.” Kate spoke up and pulled Max out of her wrestling thoughts.

 

“Nice? It’s October, it’ll probably be freezing.” Max responded as she looked back at Kate.

 

Kate shrugged, “Cold is nice, plus we can just walk along the beach if you want?”

 

“Sure.” Max smiled, “Let’s go.”

 

The two left the dorms and took Kate’s car down to the bay. Surprisingly to Max, it wasn’t located in a run-down parking lot on the other side of campus. They drove by the two-whales diner on the way to the beach, and Max couldn’t help but look and see if Joyce was there. It was hard to tell from the quick glance she got, but she could tell from Joyce’s tired eyes that she probably worked more than she should.

 

Max’s stomach dropped every time she made another realization from everything she missed out on in these five years.

 

“Here we are.” Kate said as she pulled up to the beach just before the gravel became sand. They got out of the car and started walking towards the beach. They took their shoes off and held them, the sand was warm but a cold breeze picked up and balanced out the temperature.

 

As they walked in silence, they came across a large rusted white trailer that looked like it had been in more than a few bumpy patches.

 

“Always lots of random weird stuff out here.” Kate said as they walked past the trailer and continued down the beach.

 

“You come here a lot?” Max asked

 

Kate nodded, “Yeah, I kind of just come here to get away. It helps ease my mind.” Her voice was somber, her inflection weak and hurt. Max didn’t want to inundate her with questions, but she also couldn’t help but wonder what was going on.

 

“Is everything okay Kate?” Max asked while slowing down her walk to a halt.

 

Kate stopped a few steps ahead of Max and kept staring forward. The water level had been rising through their walk and trickled up, barley the edges of Kate’s feet before retreating back. Max wanted to repeat her question, but she knew Kate heard her. She waited silently and noticed Kate begin to quiver.

 

“Kate?” Max said as softly as she could.

 

Slowly, Kate turned around and faced Max. Her eyes were glistening from the water swelling up and she bit her lip back, holding back a sob from escaping. She slowly shook her head and that’s all it took for Max for run over to Kate and wrap her arms around her, pulling her in and allowing Kate to release the emotions she had been holding back.

 

The sun was high over the horizon and shone inside the diner windows, illuminating the space and leaving a warm glow.

 

“Just a plain coffee?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“And you’re okay with your drink?”

 

“Mhmm.” Max nodded with her straw in her mouth. The cool and sweet taste of the chocolate milkshake coating her throat, it had been a while since she had one.

 

Joyce took the menus and headed behind the counter.

 

“I’m sorry.” Kate said immediately, staring down at her napkin.

 

“For what?” Max played with her straw pinched between her fingers, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

“I just have...a lot of stuff going on and I’d hate to just burden anyone.” Kate sighed, “Especially someone who has been so kind to me.”

 

Max quickly shook her head, “You’re not a burden, don’t think like that okay? Your feelings are just as valid any anyone else’s. I’m sorry you’re dealing with so much, but please don’t undermine your feelings okay?”

 

She made sure to be stern about the issue. She could tell that Kate didn’t have a lot of close friends in her life and she didn’t want her to bottle-up all her thoughts within herself.

 

Kate’s eyes began to water and she blinked away the traces of her tears, “Thank you Max. I…” She sniffled and paused, holding back a gasp, “I just...want someone to.”

 

Max reached over and held Kate’s hand in between hers, rubbing her thumb over the back of Kate’s hand slowly.

 

“Care.” Kate finally choked out and she looked down, gripping her hand onto both of Max’s tightly.

 

“One coffee.”

 

Kate quickly let go of Max’s hands and sat up, looking at Joyce, “Thank you.”

 

Max watched the smile across Kate’s face as she thanked Joyce. That was the smile she always saw on Kate’s face. Max’s stomach dropped realizing that this was her disguise. She had mastered this smile because she knew it was how she could get by around others, despite how broken she was inside.

 

The rest of their time at the diner was filled with conversations about school and classmates they both knew. Max didn’t want to keep pushing for Kate to open up, but she was happy to be there for Kate when she did let her in.

 

After the diner, the two headed back to the dorms. Kate and Max hugged goodbye, Kate holding her tightly before they parted ways and went back to their rooms. Max walked in and was shocked to see that Chloe wasn’t there. She thought about calling her and asking if everything was okay, but she didn’t want to be too pushy or annoying, especially with someone like Chloe who would let it all go to her head.

 

Max spent the right of her night reading her books for class and getting some of her weekend homework done. She texted back Warren occasionally since he had asked her to hang out soon, but she wasn’t so sure how she felt about it. It was a maybe for now, but first she wanted to figure things out herself - whatever that meant.

 

After her homework was done, Max got ready for sleep and went to bed. She started to realize how alone she felt when Chloe wasn’t there, even if a few of the times Chloe had a visitor over. It took her longer than usual, but she finally fell asleep.

 

It has been a few days, but the dream of the girl came back to her. It was the same situation where the girl was trapped, her hair covering her face and she was screaming for help. The other figure stood before her with white flashes cascading around them. This time, she saw another figure entered the scene. She felt powerless as she watched the new figure fall down to their knees suddenly.

 

Max’s eyes shot open and she scanned around the room. It was morning and there were sounds coming from the hallway, probably waking up to go about their Sunday morning plans. Looking over, she was upset to see Chloe’s bed was still empty and untouched.

 

‘ _Where is she?_ ’ Max thought to herself, she pulled out her phone and was debating sending a text. After typing out and debating between a few drafts, she sent a short and simple one.

 

_Hey, everything okay?_

 

Max dropped her phone on her bed and stared at it until the screen dimmed. She knew that Chloe was most likely with that girl, but every time she thought of it, it left a pang in her heart.

 

‘ _It was just sex, it’s not like it meant anything to her, even if it did for me._ ’ Max thought to herself as she got up and started to organize her room, ‘ _Even though she cuddled me the other night, she would never admit I’m anything more to her than just her roommate. But, do I want anything more?’_ ’

 

The thoughts circling around Max’s head were driving her crazy. She hated that she felt this new attachment to Chloe, and she couldn’t tell if it was just something short-term, or if this was an identity that she was reluctant to embrace.

 

She quickly grabbed her journal and left her door, heading outside toward the front courtyard of the school. Scribbling away around the borders of her journal always helped Max to ease her mind. It was a temporary fix, but sometimes those went a long way. The courtyard had some students around talking amongst themselves and also relaxing under the October sun. Max was sat on the stairs, absorbed in her doodling when suddenly she heard a loud crash.

 

She jumped from her seat and stood up, dropping her journal and phone on the floor.  A car had rear-ended another on in the street. Max’s eyes widened as she saw Warren exit the car in front and take a look at the damages. Scanning over to the car that had hit him, there was a boy in a red jacket emerging from the driver’s side and bolting over to Warren.

 

“What the fuck!?” The boy yelled and turned to Warren “Why’d you stop in the middle of the fucking road?”

 

‘ _He seems charming.’_ Max thought to herself, wondering if she should intervene. She looked down to pick up her phone and take a photo when she heard a thud. She looked back up at the scene and Warren was pushed up against his car.

 

“You know how expensive my car is?” The boy yelled, “My dad is going to fucking kill me!”

 

Warren shoved the boy off, “It’s not my fault! You rear ended _me_.” Warren turned and pointed at a woman who was standing  on the sidewalk, “She was trying to cross before you rammed into my car! How about you slow down? This is a school zone.”

 

“Just you wait!” The boy yelled at Warren, "You’re fuckin’ in for it!" He hopped into his car and drove off.

 

“Hey asshole!” Warren yelled as the car drove off. He turned and smacked his car, leaning his head down on the trunk.

 

Max grabbed her phone and journal and ran over to Warren, “Are you okay? I was going to take a photo but I just...I didn’t I’m sorry.”

 

Warren shook his head, “That’s Nathan, his family runs this town so it wouldn’t matter anyway.” He sighed, “This is what i get for trying to do the right thing, what a welcome back home.”

 

“Back home?” Max asked curiously.

 

“Oh, I went to my parent’s place for the weekend. Most students do since this town is so lame sometimes.” Warren looked down and furrowed his brows, “Max, you’re bleeding.”

 

Max looked down at her hand gripping her phone and saw the trail of blood trickling down. She turned her hand over and saw that her phone she was gripping onto had a completely shattered screen.

 

“What? Oh I did drop it down the stairs.” She stated solemnly. She wiped her hand on her jeans quickly.

 

“Oh I can fix those pretty easily.” Warren stated, “Wanna come to my dorm room later?”

 

Max gulped and thought to herself before shaking her head, “Nah I’ll take care of it, but thank you.” They spoke for a bit more and parted ways, Warren to get his car checked and Max to her dorm.

 

She knew that he could fix her phone easily, but she didn’t want to rely on him too much. She can tell he seems to be crushing on her, and she wanted to avoid any chance of possibly leading Warren on in any way. It was the first time she told herself she wasn’t interested in him, and she didn’t feel ambivalent about it.

 

Arriving at her dorm, Max pulled out her keys and heard some sounds inside the room. A smile poured over her fast as she quickly unlocked the door and entered inside.

 

There she was, in the middle of the room, her silhouette outlined by the sun setting behind her. Max stared in awe while she stood in the doorway.

 

“Max, you’re staring.” Chloe spoke up and Max held back a laugh as she closed the door and walked in, giving Chloe a sudden and tight hug.

 

Taken aback by the sudden gesture, Chloe dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around Max, “You actually missed me Maxie?”

 

Max nodded and pulled back, “I got kinda worried.”

 

Chloe smirked, “I could tell by your text. Sorry I didn’t reply, I was driving and ya know, that’s not legal.”

 

Max snorted, “When do you care about what’s legal?”

 

Chloe shrugged, “Since a girl told me she was only 15.”

 

Max stared at her confused for a moment before Chloe shoved her shoulder lightly, “I’m kidding geez. Yeah I was at my parent’s this weekend. I was going to tell you but, I didn’t want you to get too excited at the thought of having this space to yourself.”

 

Max stared down at the floor, piled with Chloe’s clothes and items she brought back, “It’s too much space for myself really. I’m glad you’re back.”

 

Chloe bit her lip into her mouth and looked down at Max. She quickly shook off her thought and turned to put her things away, “You had a fun weekend?”

 

Max shrugged, “It was okay, pretty relaxing. Until this.” She held out her phone, the cracked screen chips hanging off the edge.

 

“That must have been a shitty drop. Hope the person on the other end is still with us.” Chloe joked and grabbed the phone from Max, “I can fix it for you, but it’ll cost ya.”

 

‘ _Go figure. I don’t want to rely on Warren so much so I lean on Chloe. Guess that’s just how it is._ ’ Max thought to herself.

 

“What’s with that goofy smile?” Chloe teased as she walked over to the desk and put Max’s phone down. She leaned over and started rummaging through the drawers.

 

Max ignored the question and walked over to her bed, “How much do you want?”

 

Chloe looked over her shoulder from the drawer and started her way over to Max, “Hmm, good question.” She paused in front of her and cracked a small grin, “Five minutes of tickle-time?”

 

Before Max could even react, Chloe had already lunged and started to tickle Max. They fell on the side of her bed and then onto the floor. Max couldn’t hold back her booming laughs as she twisted and jerked to try to break free. Chloe got her legs around Max’s waist and pinned her flailing arms over her head. Max’s laughing stifled as she was suddenly aware of the familiar position they were in. She looked up at Chloe, her hair hanging down and her eyes glimmering as they stared right back at her.

 

The air between them fell still, and Max became aware of every place Chloe was touching her. She felt Chloe’s legs shift, her arms clench her wrists, and Chloe’s warm breath tickling her neck.

 

Without a word, Chloe slowly let go of Max’s wrists. Max felt her heart sink until she saw what Chloe was doing next. Her hands had moved down to Max’s jeans and were unbuttoning them. She looked up at Max, her eyes scanning her face and awaiting for approval. Max nodded and Chloe tugged her jeans down, her underwear catching and following down as well.

 

Max felt exposed, nervous, and anxious for what was to come. She watched Chloe slip down and position herself between Max’s legs. Her face began to feel warm as the breath that was once tickling her neck was now in her most sensitive area. Chloe looked up at Max from her position and met her eyes, “Is this okay?” She whispered, leaning down and planting a kiss on her inner thigh.

 

Her entire body jostled and she felt her heart began to pound in her chest. She nodded, unable to speak. Chloe leaned in and kissed her thigh again, this time closer to Max’s center. The sensation was rippling through Max and she leaned her head back against the floor, staring up at the dark ceiling.

 

A thought crossed her mind and she cleared her throat before speaking up, “C-Chloe.”

 

Chloe’s tongue was running along Max’s thigh and she looked up at her, “Yeah?”

 

“Can I...do this to you too?” Max asked, embarrassing by how her nerves emanated in her shaky voice, “I just...want to make you feel good too.”

 

Chloe quickly sat up and Max immediately felt like she messed up. She took a deep breath and stared down at the floor, “I can’t do that Max.”

 

Max closed her legs and sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs, “Why not? You do it with...that girl”

 

“Well that’s different.” Chloe shrugged, “She’s just a good time, she’s not someone I actually…”

 

“That doesn’t make sense.” Max interjected, finally happy to be having some sort of a discussion about their situation, “Wouldn’t you want to do that _stuff_ with someone who wasn't just some girl?”

 

Chloe nodded, “If things were all normal then yes, that would be ideal. But I can’t have that with you okay?”

 

Max felt her throat get dry and questions flood through her head. She stayed silent for a moment before Chloe continued, “I care about you Max.”

 

“I mean, you’ll have a great time with a random girl you _don’t_ care about,” Max began “But just take my virginity and it’s not a big deal-”

 

“Wait what?” Chloe jerked and looked at Max, glancing between her eyes, “Wait, don’t tell me. That when we did that...was it really..?”

 

Max nodded and Chloe sat back, covering her face with her hand, “Fuck! Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Max shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. I mean its okay.”

 

“No it’s not okay.” Chloe rose her voice, “You’re a girl who deserves to have her first time be with someone she loves and have all that romantic cutesy shit that makes it memorable. Not with someone like me. Fuck, I’m so sorry Max.”

 

Virginity was never something that was a big deal to Max like it was to other people, but she could tell that Chloe was genuine with what she was saying. It was sweet that Chloe wanted her to have a special first time, but it hurt realizing that it was just meaningless sex for Chloe.

 

“I mean, it wasn’t the most _ideal_ situation but, it still meant something to me. Even if it didn’t for you.” Max spoke softly, the hurt leaking through her words.

 

“It didn’t mean _nothing_ to me, I…” Chloe trailed off, unable to justify her reasoning, “You sure you didn’t mind?”

 

Max shook her head, “No, it was fine. It was really nice.” A blush spread across her cheeks.

 

Chloe nodded and stood up, she held her hand out and Max grabbed it, standing up and adjusting her pants back up as she did.

“Sorry for the blue balls. You cool if we save that for a rainy day?” Chloe smiled and Max shoved her playfully.

 

“You’re a hard book to read you know.” Max said while looking up at her.

 

Chloe dropped her shoulders and nodded, “I know, but this book will open up eventually. I promise.” She cupped Max’s cheek with her hand and stroked it with her thumb. The look Chloe gave her was so warm and sweet, Max just wanted to see more of _this_ side of her, but she knew it wouldn’t come easily.

 

Chloe turned and walked back to the desk to fix up her phone. Max watched her for a moment before walking over and sitting on her bed. Despite their situation being just as confusing as it was before the talk, Max felt good with Chloe being back.

  
She missed her more than she realized, and a small part of her had a feeling that Chloe missed her just as much.


	7. Crashing

 

As the bell rang, Max bolted her way out of her science class and made her way back to her dorm. Quickly treading across the courtyard, Max dashed through the crowds of students emerging and hurried to her building. She had a short gap before her photography class, but she was going to count down every minute until it began. 

 

Today was the day that Mr. Jefferson took the students to the local Arcadia museum and would discuss the newly arrived art pieces. All the submissions at the museum came from indigenous creators whose works have been evaluated by highly prestigious artists. They weren’t all going to be photography, but anything that he appreciated and critiqued was worth seeing.

 

‘ _ Today is going to be amazing.’ _ Max thought to herself with a toothy grin spread across her face. She got back to the dorm room and dropped her backpack on the bed. Looking around the room, she saw no sign of Chloe.

 

‘ _ She wasn’t in class, it figures she probably decided to do something more exciting than science.’  _ Max thought and caught a glimpse of a tray on the desk. She walked over and saw a small plate of cookies wrapped in plastic. There was a sticky note placed on top with large bold writing scribbled on.

 

_ DO NOT TOUCH. Thanks dork. _

 

Max scoffed and opened the plastic as if the note was there to test her. She grabbed a cookie and was about to eat it when an idea crossed her mind. Her camera was within her peripheral, she walked over and brought it back to the desk. She positioned herself and lifted up the camera, placing the cookie up to her mouth before taking the ‘selfie’ with the plate visible in the background. The camera slowly treaded out the polaroid picture and she yanked it, flicking it in her grasp and placing the photo on top of the plate.

 

‘ _ Take that Chloe.’  _ Max thought and giggled as she took a bite of the cookie and left the room. 

 

She made her way to the courtyard in front of the statue where Mr. Jefferson instructed the class to meet up. Upon arrival, there were already a few students congregating around, most she recognized but a good amount were new to her.  She forgot how popular he was, he definitely taught more than one class.

 

Max saw Kate and waved to her, quickly running over and gave her a quick hug, “You excited?”

 

Kate nodded, “Yeah really excited!” She eyed down to Max’s mouth, “You’ve got something on your mouth.” She gestured with her finger around her lips.

 

Max blushed a bit and used her sweatshirt sleeve to rub her mouth, removing the evidence of her stolen dessert. The two spoke about their day for a bit as more students collected around the statue.

 

After some time, Mr. Jefferson emerged from the school and came over to the group. Max wiped her mouth again quickly, hoping there wasn’t any trace of cookie crumbs left on her face. She felt nervous around him still, even though she had his class everyday it was hard to get used to seeing your idol.

 

Mr. Jefferson smiled as he spoke briefly about the museum, he was excited to show the class what he spent last week discussing. His manner of teaching is definitely more hands-on than lecture based, which led to great opportunities like what the class was doing today.

 

As the group made their way over to the museum, Max heard a very familiar and unpleasant voice chime above the group of students. She eyed over and saw Victoria laughing and sweet-talking to Mr. Jefferson. She kept touching his arm and shoulder as she spoke and kept a large smile throughout their conversation. Max rolled her eyes and sighed, she hated girls who did anything for attention.

 

“She’s such a jerk.” Kate muttered. Max looked over to her and saw that Kate was also watching Victoria. Max remembered how Kate was outside on the steps because Victoria bullied her. Kate was such a sweet girl, Max could never understand how people like Victoria could find a way to hate anyone she wanted.

 

When they arrived, the students checked in with the front desk and began filtering inside the museum lobby. There were paintings, sculptures, photos, and other styles of art amalgamated on the walls and perimeter of the museum. Max felt like she was at a theme park, her excitement bubbling as the group walked over to the first piece they would discuss.

 

The portrait was of a girl wrapping her arms around her legs and looking down, defeated, at the floor. Behind her was another pair of hands grabbing her shoulders and tightly gripping them, the fingertips of the hands having a small trail of color percolating down the girl’s shoulders.

 

The group was silence as Mr. Jefferson discussed what he liked and disliked about the portrait. He spoke very highly of it and talked about how he would have changed the lightning and contrast to add more depth to the hands.  

 

His analysis consisted of ideas that Max had never thought about herself, and helped her realize she still has a long way to go before she was anywhere near the level of expertise he was. She did love to challenge her abilities and this was the best exposure for her to understand areas of improvement. 

 

The group rotated around the entirety of the museum and looks at mainly the portraits and photographs, but also spent time on the more tangible art pieces such as the sculptures and statues. Mr. Jefferson spent some extra time discussing a particular piece submitted by a former student he had worked with. It was inspiring to know that someone who had graduated from Blackwell was able to get their talent recognized so soon.

 

As the piece was analyzed by Mr. Jefferson, Max felt a sharp throb in her head that trickled down to the base of her neck. It didn’t hurt, but it was a pressure that started slow and made her feel lightheaded, but not faint. 

 

‘ _ Fuck. I should have had more than a cookie before this, I’m pretty hungry.’  _ Max thought to herself and shook her head quickly. She rubbed her head and had a hard time focusing on anything in the room. Her heart started to beat slower and Max looked around at the group. Everyone was facing forward, captivated by everything Mr. Jefferson was telling them.

 

A nudge on her shoulder made her jump and she turned to see Kate was staring back at her, a worried look greeting Max, “You okay?” She whispered 

 

Max nodded quickly and gave her a weak smile as she stared ahead. Her body began to feel lighter and she felt outside of herself, she couldn’t focus on anything except the way her body felt.

 

‘ _ What’s going on? Am I going to faint?’  _ Max thought, worried that she was going to make a fool of herself in front of everyone. The sensation from her head pulsed down her spine and she had difficulty standing still, she moved her leg out to stabilize herself more. Her world felt like it was slowing down while also remaining at the same pace. 

 

She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and she thought she would distract herself from this sensation. There were five texts from Chloe that she had ignored because she didn’t want to miss or ignore what Mr. Jefferson was teaching them. The most recent notification was the phone call she had just missed from Chloe. 

 

She opened up a text and read the message she received.

 

_ Max, did you really take one of those cookies?? _

 

_ I know you’re in Mr. Jeffer-whatever’s class but can you please respond!! _

 

_ Please don’t tell me you ate one. You know what those were right? _

 

_ Max come on! Fuckin reply. _

 

_ I’m worried. Please. _

 

The urgency of the messages made Max begin to panic. She tried to type back but was having trouble typing out what she wanted to say, or focusing on the keyboard. 

 

_ Cant talk bu t cann type. What was in cookiee? Feel weird. _

 

She noticed the red squiggly lines under many of her words, but knew she wouldn’t be able to do any better. She hit send and looked up from her phone, the movement caused her vision to shift and she shook her head again to adjust herself. Her phone buzzed immediately and she opened the text.

_ They were pot cookies Max. Really strong ones. I’m guessing they kicked in, are you okay? Are you still in class? _

 

Her heart began to pound in her chest and she felt her body start to shake. She had accidentally drugged herself in the middle of her class and she was trying everything she could not to have a panic attack. Max had never been high before and always thought it was like being drunk, but she had no idea how potent it was.

 

_ Museum.. _

 

She sent the text and dropped her hand down at her side. Sweat beaded down her neck and she began to breath in deeper breaths, almost gasping. Her throat felt tighter, and her breathing felt weak. 

 

‘ _ Am I overthinking this? Can I breathe?’  _ Her thoughts twisted into anxiety and she had to get away from the group. Quickly turning, she pushed through the crowd and tried to make her way to the bathroom. She felt completely disconnected from the room and wanted to just sit down. Taking a deep gasp of air, she headed for the way the group had entered and saw a bathroom sign. 

 

She walked in and dropped herself over the sink, turning on the faucet and splashing water in her face. She felt better for a moment but knew this feeling was only going to get worse. She didn’t know much about weed, but she knew the effects could last a long time. Her stomach churned and she didn’t know if she needed to puke or just stand completely stagnant.

 

The bathroom door opened and Max looked up into the reflection to see who came in. She had expected to see Kate, but her stomach dropped at who had walked in.

 

The unnamed, highly sexual bed-buddy of Chloe’s had sauntered in and came straight over to Max. She stared down at her for a moment, her perplexed expression said more than enough. Max knew she looked like a complete mess, but she tried to keep it together.

 

“I didn’t know you had one of his classes too.” The girl spoke up and crossed her arms, “You overwhelmed by all the art?”

 

Max shook her head and looked up at her from the sink,  “Yeah, something like that?”

 

The girl smirked down at her, “Must be fun seeing all the art while blitzed out of your mind huh? What a cliche.”

 

Max’s eyes widened and she slowly lifted herself from the sink, “What? How…?”

 

The girl gestured to Max, “Look at you, you can’t even look at me in the eye. You gonna make it champ?”

 

Max shrugged and looked off to the side, she couldn’t fixate on anything except how out of place she felt and how the room seemed to shift without her moving.

 

The girl brought her hands up and started to spin them around in front of Max’s face. The motion confused Max, but the movement was too fast and making her feel uncomfortable. She stepped back and the girl reacted by quickly shooting her hands forward, retracting them back before she made contact. The action made Max jolt back, she looked down at her feet, “Please stop.”

 

“Oh my god you’re so fucked up! I wish I could get that high still.” The girl bit back a laugh and stepped toward Max again.

 

“Stop!” Max said louder, “You’re...you’re scaring me on purpose. You know I can’t.” She paused and shook, the fear and anxiety bubbling through her.

 

“Can’t what? Come on, you can do it.” The girl stepped closer to Max, “You’re always so quiet in the room, why don’t you open up huh?” 

 

Max backed up against the sink and felt weak, she wanted to sit down but knew she wouldn’t be able to. She had to get back to the group so Mr. Jefferson didn’t think she wasn’t interested.

 

Her body kept getting waves of panic and fear and she couldn’t handle all this worry.

 

“She likes you, more than me.” Max spoke up softly, “She doesn’t like me like that. I want her to. She never will.”

 

“What’re you talking about?” The girl replied, she looked up and down at Max. 

 

“I feel like, I’m stuck in a dream. I can’t wake up, and I awake? Are we here?” Max knew the words she uttered made no sense, but her fear was taking over her.

 

“Are we where? We’re at school.” The girl spoke up, looking around the room and then back to Max.

 

“No don’t lie! We’re in the museum, even if it...it doesn’t feel like it.” She shook, her legs felt weak. She couldn’t tell what was real, her head pulsed again and she just wanted to sit down so badly.

 

“No we’re not. We aren’t anywhere.” The girl spoke louder, “Nothing is really-”

 

“What the fuck are you doing?!”

 

Max heard the familiar voice and it made her heart feel lighter, she felt warm for a moment.

 

“Chloe, she’s so fucked up. You should see how she gets when-”

 

“Why are you fucking with her? She’s having an awful reaction!”

 

Max could hear the worry laced in Chloe’s anger, she was yelling at this point.

 

“Get away from her. Fucking move!”

 

Max heard a thud and felt an arm wrap around her. She looked up and saw Chloe staring down at her, the eyes staring at her were darting around, looking at every inch of her face. Chloe’s mouth was shaking while biting back her lips. She looked up at the girl and shook her head, “We’re done.”

 

“What!?” The girl began and laughed, “Come on, I was just messing with her. We always fuck around with high people. Don’t be like that.”

 

“We’re done!” Chloe barked back. The shriek in her voice echoed in the bathroom and the silence that followed was heavy. 

 

“Whatever.” The girl scoffed and turned around, bolting out of the room. 

 

Max hung her head down, focusing on the files on the floor. She moved her foot and traced the outline of one of the squares slowly, “I’m sorry. I fucked up Chloe.”

 

Chloe tilted Max’s chin up with her finger and stared into her eyes, her own looking so concerned and deep, “Don’t apologize. This is all my fault.” She sighed and looked back to the door, “We should go.”

 

“Chloe.” Max spoke suddenly, bringing her hand up to her head.

 

“Yeah?” Chloe quickly twisted her head back to Max. She had her hand on Max’s arm slowly stroking the length from her shoulder to her elbow.

 

“That feels nice.” Max mumbled and her other hand reached onto the counter, “I’m so scared. This won’t stop and I’m so scared Chloe.” Her voice was broken, weak and desperate.

 

Chloe didn’t waste another moment as she stopped her hand at Max’s elbow and tugged her, pulling her out of the bathroom. Their movement was swift and Max had trouble walking as she struggled to move one foot in front of the other.

 

She felt a cold breeze and realized they were outside. She didn’t know they had left the museum so fast. Her attention kept catching onto something new that attracted her eye and she felt everything happening as slow as it felt fast.

 

Her hand placed on cold metal, hands pushing onto her back lightly as she lifted herself with a thud up and onto more metal. She shook her head and realized she was in the back of Chloe’s truck. Chloe moved some things around and made room as she scooted back and sat down. She held onto Max’s hand, gently motioning into her lap. 

 

Max nodded and positioned herself between Chloe’s legs, leaning until her back was rested up against Chloe’s chest. They sat like that for a moment until the buzzing of Max’s phone caught them both off guard. Max pulled it out and saw it was a text but she couldn’t decipher who it was from.

 

“Fuck I can’t even unlock it. Chloe. I’m trying and I just can’t.” Max sounded as hopeless as she felt.

 

Chloe reached her arms around Max and took her phone, unlocking it and  looking at the message, “it’s Kate.” Chloe spoke up.

 

She started typing a message in response. Max was going to ask what it said, or what she was writing but she didn’t care, it was the least of her worries.

 

“Chloe.” She spoke softly, as if she was worried she would interrupt something.

 

“Yeah?” Chloe responded as she typed away on the phone. Max was silent for a bit before she was finally able to respond.

 

“Will I get better?” Mask choked out, holding back a whimper, “What if I’m stuck like this. Will I ever be okay? I’m so scared, I’m so fucking scared.”

 

She started shaking and her words were broken by the tears that left streaks down her face and dripped down to her chin. Chloe dropped down Max’s phone and wrapped her arms around her tightly, pulling her in and resting her head against Max’s

 

“No, no you’re okay. You’re okay, I’m here okay Max? I’m here and I’m going to take care of you. I’m always going to be here for you.” Chloe whispered into her ear and kept her grip around Max tight. She held her for what felt like hours to Max, but it was only a few minutes before she was able to calm her cries down.

 

Max’s eyes felt heavy and she turned her body so her cheek rested against the crook of Chloe’s neck, “T-thank you. You’re so warm.”

 

Chloe didn’t speak, she just rubbed Max’s back slowly nuzzling her cheek against Max’s head. Her soft touch relaxed Max, even though the effects of the drug hadn’t dissipated, she felt more at ease in Chloe’s arms. She knew that, no matter what, she was safe there.

 

“Not just warm on the outside either.” Max said quietly. She could feel Chloe’s cheek shift, it felt like it was a smile. However, Max couldn’t trust a lot of her senses right now, she wasn’t sure what was really happening.

 

“Your girlfriend is mean.” Max said suddenly, evoking a laugh out of Chloe.

 

“She’s not my girlfriend.” Chloe responded bluntly, her hand rubbing Max’s back slowed down and her fingers began stroking a small circle.

 

“What was her name. I never caught it.” Max muttered, she felt less out of place and disconnected when she spoke, even though she wasn’t sure why this was where her thoughts led her to speak about.

 

“Her name doesn’t matter, because she doesn’t matter. You won’t see her again.” Chloe’s words were sharp, and dull. Her inflection a mixture of vexation and disappointment.

 

“You deserve better.” Max’s voice trailed off and she felt her body become more heavy and tired in Chloe’s embrace. She just wanted to sleep, even if she wasn’t supposed to.

 

Her eyes closed and she couldn’t keep them open. Chloe’s fingers kept their pattern tracing designs on her back, her legs cradling Max into a warm slumber. The warmth of Chloe’s cheek against her head peeled away and the space immediately felt empty. Before she could muster the strength to open her eyes and ask her to reconnect the contact, she felt a soft, gentle pressure press against her lips. It lingered for a few seconds before pulling away.

  
She wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t, but that feeling was the last thing she remembered before everything faded.


	8. Reload

“No, I haven't seen her. I’ve been looking everywhere.”

 

Silence consumed the space for a moment, almost swallowing it back when sound broke through again.

 

“No! I told you. I checked there too. You’re not _fucking_ listening to me.”

 

Max opened her eyes, slowly lifting her head up from the bed. Her body ached and when her eyes adjusted to the light. She noticed she wasn’t in her bed, but instead Chloe’s.

 

“Oh, hey, I gotta go. I’ll call later, okay? Yeah, yes, yes bye!”

 

Max rotated and saw Chloe hopping off the ledge of the window into the room, crushing her cigarette along the frame. She trudged over as she blew the smoke out of the side of her mouth.

 

“Hey,” her voice was laced with urgency and worry. She crouched by her bed and leaned her arms on the bed frame. The bed frame creaked and tilted with the added weight, causing Chloe to immediately retract her arms.

 

“This bed is shit.” She muttered and looked up at Max.

 

Max rubbed her eye with the palm of her hand and cleared her throat before she spoke, “What happened?”

 

Chloe sighed, lowering her eyes and kept her gaze at the floor. Max pivoted her body until she was facing Chloe completely and looked down at her, “Chloe. It’s not your fault. I remember most of it I just...I don’t know what to believe.”

 

Chloe kept her eyes low, avoiding eye contact as she spoke, “We sat in the bed of my truck for a while after you fell asleep. After some time it was getting dark so I drove us back to the school and brought you in. You were insistent on sleeping in my bed so we both slept here.”

 

“We slept in the same bed?” Max reiterated

 

Chloe looked up at Max for a moment, “Not like _that_. We just slept, I promise.”

 

Max nodded, “I didn’t think you’d do anything while I was that messed up.”

 

“You are quite a cuddler, Caulfield.” Chloe spoke up. A red hue began to grow on Max’s face, she kept her head low to try and hide it.

 

“It’s fine, don’t feel bad you were pretty out of it.” Chloe said, “Actually, one funny thing you said-”

 

“Chloe?”

 

They both froze, staring at each other and waiting for someone to speak up first. Chloe quickly stood up and grabbed onto Max’s arm, yanking her across the room.

 

“What’re you doing?” Max whispered, she stumbled as she moved and tried to not fall over.

 

“Shush okay?! Sorry just please!” Chloe husked urgently. She opened the closet door and shoved Max inside, closing it as best as she could with the small allotted space.

 

“Chloe!”

 

“Yeah hold on!” Chloe yelled back at the booming voice and walked over to the door, opening it up and stepping back to let them in.

 

“You ever keep this place clean?” The owner of the voice sounding completely irritated already.

 

“Nice to see you too, David.” Chloe responded to the man.

 

Max adjusted herself to try and see the man, but she was having trouble moving without making a sound. She decided to stand still and just listen.

 

“Why are there two beds in here? What’s going on?” His voice was louder and deeper every time he spoke.

 

“What is this? An interrogation? They left it in here when they installed the new one.” Chloe retorted, the frustration in her voice  almost matching his, “Why did you come here? To bitch about the room?”

 

“Don’t talk to me like that. I’m here because I got a complaint about the _trail_ you left leading to your room here.” He turned around and gestured outside the room.

 

Chloe looked out the door and brought her hand up to her head, sighing lightly, “Fuck. I forgot.”

 

“Care to explain? This is disgusting Chloe. You realize there is a standard to uphold at this school, despite what you think about cleanliness.” He crossed his arms, looking down at her.

 

“I had a rough night okay?” She waved her hand out, “I’m sorry, I’ll clean it up! I just couldn’t last night.”

 

“Maybe you shouldn’t be out _underage_ drinking and instead get your work done! You’re getting wasted on a Monday?” The sharp sting to his voice made Max’s hair stand up, he was furious. “I thought coming to this school would be good for you, not make you even more of-”

 

“More of what!? More of the star-child you wanted? Well get over it, you married my mom you have to deal with me.” Chloe raised her hands up and gestured down to herself, “I’m _never_ going to be like all those pristine and proper bitches you want me to be. But I _will_ stay and not get kicked out okay? Just cut me some slack.”

 

The silence gave Max relief for a moment, hoping that she had talked some sense into him. Her thoughts were, as always, too optimistic.

 

“Cut you some _slack_?” His voice was rising in amplitude, and militant, “You’re in fucking high school for your second time and you’re still struggling to just be _normal._ I don’t ask for much, but I want you to give a fuck! _”_

 

His thunderous voice sent a chill down Max’s spine, she could only imagine how this was affecting Chloe. Considering he was already so angry, this was probably nothing new to Chloe.

 

“I swear Chloe...” His voice trailed off as he clenched his fists, “ I hoped that once you got that rid of that junkie that you would get yourself figured out-”

 

“Don’t talk about her like that!” Chloe’s interjected sonorous and cracking her voice, the pain leaking through, “Don’t _ever_ talk about Rachel, ever!”

 

“That drugged-up bitch messed with your life and you need to forget about her!” David’s loud and strained voice returning with more fervor, a loud bang echoed in the room and elicited a shriek from Chloe.

 

Max’s heart started pounding in her chest, ‘ _Did he hit her? Oh my god what do I do? Fuck. Fuck!’_ Max’s thoughts raced through her head.

 

After a long silence, David finally broke through with a more stern and steady voice, “Get your act together or else there’ll be more consequences okay? I want you to do well but you need to grow up and leave your messy past behind you.”

 

More silence. Each second that passed made Max more eager than the next. She hated not being able to see what was going on. She heard footsteps and then the door close.

 

Immediately, Max pushed the closet door open and hurried over to Chloe who was standing still, looking down at the floor with her arms shaking at her sides.

 

“Chloe, are you okay?” Max eyed all over her to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She looked over and saw Chloe’s bed completely knocked down and broken apart onto the floor. A sigh of relief escaped her lips knowing the recipient of that loud crash wasn’t Chloe.

 

“What was he talking about?” Max asked, slowly bringing her hand to touch Chloe’s arm to try and calm her shaking, “What happened outside?”

 

Chloe shrugged and pulled her hand away from Max’s touch.

 

Max stepped back, retracting her arms back and she was about to turn and give Chloe some space but quickly changed her mind, “You know, you shouldn’t act like such a _girl_ with avoiding questions.”

 

The joke induced a short laugh from Chloe as she looked back to Max, “Clever one, where’d you hear that Caulfield?”

 

“Oh just some girl who was trying to get me to be less difficult.” Max smiled at her softly, “Can you tell me, please?”

 

Chloe hesitated for a moment, but nodded, walking over to open the door and point towards the hallway. Max leaned out and saw a sporadic trail of vomit from their door all the way down the hall.

 

“Oh Fuck.” Max said, covering her face with her hand, eyes glued to the scene.

 

“Yeah, getting back inside wasn’t as easy as I made it sound.” Chloe spoke up behind Max.

 

Max whipped around and looked up at Chloe while pointing out to the hall, “This was all me wasn’t it? Chloe, why’d you take the blame?!”

 

“Because he’s hot-headed and short-tempered, and I don’t want someone like that getting mad at you, especially when it wasn’t your fault.” Chloe said.

 

“Thank you for taking the blame, you didn’t have to, but thank you.” Max said, trying to formulate a proper response, but Chloe continued with more frustration in her voice, “That man should not have the option of distributing his anger to anyone else except me, because no one deserves to deal with his insanity.”

 

“I can see why you don’t like him, but he doesn’t have the right to treat you that way, especially since you’re family.” Max said quickly, “You shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

 

“Well that’s why I’m here right?” She looked back into the room, “A little escape from the reality of my _happy_ family.” She exaggerated the word ‘happy’ with a scoff.

 

“So he thinks you live here alone then?” Max asked

 

Chloe nodded, “He may be divisive and intimidating, but he’s a complete block head and doesn’t try to dig too deep into things, he’s content with orders about giving orders.”

 

“You sure he won’t check?” Max bit her lip nervously, “I would hate to have him find out later and you get in way worse trouble.”

 

Chloe shrugged again and slumped her shoulders down, looking completely helpless. Max was about to say something but was cut off by Chloe suddenly moving over to her wrecked bed and sifting through the pile of blankets.

 

“What’re you..?” Max started and trailed off when she saw Chloe pull out a reusable aluminum bottle. It was dented on a few sides and the red shiny color was chipped off the metal.

 

“Maximum, meet my friend.” Chloe held the bottle out towards her.

 

Max grabbed it reluctantly and unscrewed it, she sniffed the contents and retracted her face back immediately, “Oh god Chloe. What is this?”

 

“Its rum, you big baby.” Chloe grabbed the bottle back and took a long swig.

 

“You sure about this? David was just on your case about being drunk.” Max said, worried that she was mothering her too much.

 

“Hey, he wants to bitch about me being drunk, I might as well give him a reason right?” Chloe smirked and took another long gulp from the bottle, “Come on, let’s go.”

 

Before Max could say anything, Chloe grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room and out of the dorms. They made their way to the side of the main campus building and through a door that led to a flight of stairs. The climb up was short, but felt like forever to Max who was paranoid about them getting caught. When they reached the top of the stairs, Chloe pulled out a key and unlocked the door.

 

With one strong heave, she pushed the door open and stepped out onto the room. Max followed behind her and looked around at the open space, “We shouldn’t be up here.” She mumbled while following behind Chloe.

 

“Lighten up Maxie.” Chloe yelled over her shoulder, unscrewing the lid of her bottle and taking another long drink.

 

“At the rate you’re drinking that, you probably don’t need to keep closing it.” Max teased. Chloe flipped her off while lowering the bottle, “Shush its fine.”

 

Max sighed and looked over the edge of the building down at the campus. It looked beautiful from the height they were at. She never had a chance to fully take in the campus aside from the courtyard.

 

“It looks like one big painting.” Max said while she scanned around all the corners of the school.

 

“Wanna take a photo and the post it online with some cheesy dumb caption?” Chloe said as she walked up next to Max. She brought her elbow up and rested it on Max’s shoulder.

 

“Yeah, how about we call it…” Max thought for a moment, making a box with both her thumbs and forefingers and extending her arms out to frame the campus, “Warm Smiles and Timeless Beauty.”

 

They both broke out into laughter at Max’s statement. Chloe felt her phone vibrate and sat down with her back against the rail, “You’re a funny one.” She started writing out a message quickly.

 

“Bored of me already?” Max joked while nudging Chloe with her foot. Chloe kept texting with one hand while using her other hand to grab onto Max’s foot. She tugged on it, making Max wobble and hop, catching herself on the rail before plummeting onto Chloe.

 

“Wow Max, maybe hold back on the drinks.” Chloe said with a smirk and put her phone down.

 

“Fuck you.” Max said as she steadied herself and stood back up.

 

“I know you want to.” Chloe shot her a wink and took another gulp from her bottle.

 

Max’s voice caught in her throat from the statement, the familiar red glow spread on her cheeks.

 

Chloe’s phone buzzed and she brought it up to her ear, “Yeahhhh?” She played with the lid of the bottle while listening. After a moment she spoke up again, “Today? Yeah I’m down. I’ll be there, can I bring a date?”

 

The words caught Max’s attention as she looked down at Chloe. She was intrigued where this conversation was leading too, but knew she shouldn’t get too invested. She pulled out her phone and saw that it was 1:00PM. She had slept through her classes and would have a good amount of work to make up.

 

“See ya later.” Chloe hung up and used her hand to prop herself back up and standing, “Sounds like we’re going to a day party Maxie.”

 

“Day party?” Max repeated, “Why would we do that?”

 

Chloe threw her hands up, “Because school sucks and we deserve fun. You don’t have to go, especially after the night you had, but I’m gonna get my drink on.” She lifted up her bottle, “This guy is almost empty.”

 

“Where is it goning to be?” Max asked, eyeing the bottle as Chloe twirled it between her fingers.

 

“Prescock’s. You’ll be shocked how huge his parent’s place is. He’s been wanting to do a day drinking thing for a little while and last time I heard he was aiming for this week. The timing is great huh?” She lifted her phone up, “Just got confirmation so, you in?”

 

“Prescock?” Max raised her eyebrow curiously.

 

“Is that all you took from that?” Chloe slurred her words this time, the alcohol hitting her slowly, “That’s very straight of you Max, his name is Pre _scott_ but he’s a dick most of the time. His parties are good though.”

 

Max knew she shouldn’t go, she knew she should just tell her to be safe while she headed back to her dorm to get work done. She couldn’t slack off already just because Chloe wanted her too.

 

“Please?” Chloe asked softly and walked forward, causing Max to back up against the door they walked in through. Chloe pressed herself up against Max, leaning down and nuzzling her cheek against Max’s.

 

“Please come.” Chloe husked into Max’s ear. The warmth of her breath elicited a sigh out of Max, her body responding with trembles. Chloe pulled her face back until it was in line with Max’s, their nose inches apart, “ _Come,_ for me?”

 

Max gulped, the statement laced with so much lust. Max nodded quickly, causing Chloe to pull back and stumble back from the movement, “Oh man, I’m drunk.”  A large smile spread across her face. She nudged Max away from the door to pull it out and headed down the stairs,

 

Max watched her walk down and took in a deep breath, “What’re you doing Max.” She asked herself softly as she began her descend down after Chloe, who was already struggling to make it down the stairs.

 

“Heeeere we are!” Chloe called out when they approached the home. The estate was an enormous mansion, a large fence along its perimeter encasing the finely cut green grass. They buzzed in for the gate to open and started their way down the long driveway. Chloe finished the contents of her bottle and dropped it onto the floor.

 

“Did you really finish all that?” Max asked, eyeing the bottle on the floor as they walked by it.

 

“Of course, neeever ever...” Chloe stumbled and Max grabbed onto her arm, helping her stand up straight, “Waste alcohol.”

 

“I’ll remember that.” Max said with a laugh while they made their way to the house.

 

As they drew closer, the music became louder and more signs of a party were noticeable on the lawn.

 

Upon reaching the front door, Chloe pushed it open and hopped the step inside. Max followed and closed the door behind her. There were more students inside than she thought, everyone playing games and drinking, some people smoking and adding a thin haze to the room.

 

“Geez, who has house parties during the day like this?” Max asked over the music.

 

Chloe turned around and poked her nose, “People whose rich parents aren’t home during the day.”

 

Chloe walked over to a boy sitting on the couch. His eyelids were heavy and he had a big dopey grin on his face. He stood up and patted Chloe on the shoulder, “These fuckin’ cookies Chloe are amaaazing!” He stumbled back against the wall and held his hands out, “I’m so fucked up dude.”

 

Max walked up to the two and looked at the boy. Chloe turned and smacked her hand on Max’s back to push her forward, “Nathan, Max. Max, Nathan. This guy is the rich fuck who owns this house.”

 

Nathan waved his hand and smiled, “Yeah, yeah it’s whatever.”

 

Max’s mouth dropped a bit hearing what Chloe said, “Wait, _you’re_ Nathan Prescott? You’re the guy who…” She trailed off, not wanting to bring up the incident with Warren’s car. She hadn’t made connection with what Warren said, but this was definitely the same snobby guy who gave Warren a hard time.

 

“How do you two know each other?” Max asked quickly to cover up her last statement.

 

Nathan gestured between himself and Chloe, “She gives me good ass drugs, I give her whatever random shit she needs. I needed them for some stuff earlier I got done, you’d really love to see it Chloe, it’s amazing.”

 

Max eyed over at Chloe, who was already prepared for the dismissive and upset look Max had on her face.

 

“What kinda stuff? More photography?" She asked Nathan while crossing her arms. She leaned towards Max and whispered, “Max its fine, don’t be upset.”

 

“Yeah, sure thing. I thought you just made those for a friend or whatever, I didn’t know you were dealing.” Max said and shook her head lightly, “I’ll be back.” She mumbled and walked over to the kitchen.

 

There were more people lined around the kitchen, talking amongst each other and making drinks - mainly making a mess. Max walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door when she couldn’t open it.

 

“Hold on!”

 

The voice sounded a little too familiar to Max. She immediately turned around to find another bathroom, but the door had already opened.

 

“Oh, look who it is.”

 

Max stopped in her tracks and sighed, turning around to face the girl inside the bathroom.

 

“Hi Victoria.” Max said with very little enthusiasm, “Great seeing you here.”

 

“Don’t be a bitch about it Max.” She walked out and pointed to the bathroom, “All yours.”

 

“Wait.” Max called and turned to face Victoria.

 

She regretted the decision when she saw the look Victoria had given her. She glared down at her, her eyes piercing through her and anchoring her in place. Max gulped and stepped forward towards her, as if to hold her ground against her.

 

“I know we got off on the wrong foot but, I mean do we have to be on bad terms already?” Max asked her while eyeing the people behind her in the main part of the house, “I bet you’re a lot easier to talk to without the reinforcement from your friends.”

 

Victoria opened her mouth to reply but stopped, her jaw jerking with the various responses she had firing through her head.

 

“Victoria!?”

 

They both looked over to a girl waving back at them from the back yard. She motioned Victoria to come outside and pointed to a table behind her.

 

Victoria looked over at Max and gave her a quick wave before she started for the backyard. Max smiled thinking that even if nothing changes, she’d know that for just a moment Victoria didn’t appear to be the girl with the guarded and angry front.

 

After she used the bathroom, Max went back to the main room to find Chloe. She pushed through people to make her way back to where Nathan was earlier, but he was nowhere to be found. The new song that was playing had a bridge that was building up and she knew it was about to get much louder in the room. She called for Chloe, but couldn’t find her anywhere. After moving through some more people, she looked back on the couch and her stomach immediately dropped.

 

Chloe was sitting on the couch with a drink in her hand, a girl was sitting next to her and had her legs extended over Chloe’s lap. She was showing Chloe something on her leg and Max could see Chloe’s eyes lighting up with excitement, a smile stuck on her face.

 

‘ _Fuck. Of course.’_ Max thought to herself.

 

Chloe looked up and caught sight of Max, her expression falling immediately. Max turned around, walking back to the bathroom.

 

“Max wait!” Chloe called and moved the girl’s legs off of her lap, rushing to chase after Max. She caught up to her and was able to stop the bathroom from closing.

 

“Go away Chloe!” Max called from the other side of the door, “i don’t want to talk to you okay?”

 

Chloe forced her way into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She looked at Max and sighed, “Why’re you mad at me?”

 

“Why!?” Max yelled, her feet and hands trembling with her frustration, “I saw you and that girl, you can’t have anything and everything you want you know!”

 

Chloe’s brows furrowed in confusion and she stepped towards Max, “What!? That girl was no one, I was just talking to her. Why are you so mad?”

 

“Because you’re just!” Max started and threw her arms up, “Just so…” She exhaled loudly to calm herself and looked up at Chloe, “Forget it, you can do whatever you want. You have every right to.”

 

Chloe walked around and stepped up towards Max, the proximity between them vanishing quickly and causing Max to back up onto the bathroom counter.

 

“What’re you doing?” Max asked softly. Chloe hooked her hands around Max’s legs and lifted her onto the counter. Max put her hands up to Chloe’s shoulders quickly and slightly nudged them away, “Chloe?”

 

“Let me do this.” Chloe said softly, her forehead head pressed up against Max’s.

 

Max looked away from her intense gaze that was locking her in, “Chloe, you can’t just do _this_ to try to make things better. You know that isn’t fair.”

 

Chloe nodded, “I know. I’m not an easy or simple person at all and I suck at communication. But, I want to do this, I want to for you.” She put her hands on the loops of Max’s jeans and tugged them forward, stepping between Max’s legs that instinctively spread open.

 

Max’s heart started to beat quickly and excitement spread through her, “It’s not fair at all. You’re so hard to refuse.” She mumbled and nodded towards Chloe. She hated that Chloe had this effect on her, but she couldn’t help how Chloe made her feel. How her touch felt, and how she could drive her crazy without even trying.

 

Chloe smiled before unbuttoning Max’s pants and yanking them down onto the bathroom floor.

 

Max lifted herself up with her hands on the counter to help Chloe remove her jeans. She started to remove her underwear, but Chloe grabbed her hands to stop her. Max was about to ask why but Chloe had already bent down and ran her tongue over the fabric, pressing up against Max’s center.

 

“Ohh my god!” Max yelped. The lack of direct contact was driving her crazy, but the wet sensation felt so intoxicating. Seeing Chloe bending down in front of her most sensitive area for the second time was something she never knew would be so incredible to witness. It’s an image she would never forget.

 

Chloe continued to lick and press her lips against the wet fabric, occasionally running her tongue across Max’s inner thigh. She wrapped her hands around Max’s legs and pulled them towards her to lock Max into place.

 

Max leaned back against the bathroom mirror, each flick and twist of Chloe’s tongue making her breath harder and jerk her body. She wanted more, needed to feel closer to her.

 

“Chloe, m-more.” She managed to escape between a breathy moan.

 

Chloe looked up at her and smirked, “Ask nicely.”

 

Max looked down at her and felt the heat rush to her face all over again, “P-Please. Please Chloe, please I need more.”

 

Chloe quickly moved up from her position and brought her face right in front of Max’s inches away like they were earlier on the roof.

 

“Beg.” She said softly, desire trimming from her lips and radiating a shiver through every inch of Max’s body. She eyed between Chloe’s eyes, down at her wet lips that were coated with traces of her own moisture, and then back to Chloe’s eyes.

 

The moment was heavy, tense, and full of so much lust. Max wanted to kiss her, she wanted to move quickly and take control, kissing every part of this girl who was reluctant with any sort of intimacy onto herself.

 

“Hey!” A loud voice called from the other side of the door followed by a knock.

 

The two didn’t budge or even acknowledge the sounds on the other side of the door. They kept their rigid and eager gaze steady.

 

“Hello!?” The voice called out again.

 

Max hopped off the counter and pulled her pants back up. Chloe stumbled back and leaned against the bathroom wall, rubbing the palm of her hand against her head, “Just your luck, huh?”

 

“Shut up” Max said while playfully shoving Chloe, “Let’s go.”

 

They opened the door and swiftly pushed by the people waiting outside the bathroom. They didn’t say goodbye to anyone as they headed for front door and made their way back outside.

 

“Awww, are we leaving already?” Chloe groaned, walking along the border of the driveway and the grass. She had her arms extended out to balance her, but Max still walked close in case she was going to fall.

 

“Yeah, it wasn’t too fun and you’ve had enough to drink.” Max looked down at her phone, she had a missed call from Warren.

 

“I thought it was _just_ the right amount of fun.” Chloe tilted her body over and quickly regained her balance, “You shoulda had a shot or something.”

 

Max shook her head, even though Chloe couldn’t see it, “No way, especially not on a school day when I _should_ have been at school.”

 

“I’m a good excuse to be a bad influence on youuuu.” Chloe said in a sing-song voice, spinning and stumbling back to her walk on the border.

 

“Is that actually a song?” Max teased and lightly pushed Chloe so she stepped on the grass.

 

“Max! That’s lava!” Chloe yelled and jumped back on the sidewalk. They both broke out into laughter and made their way out through the estate’s gates. They made their way to a local fast food restaurant to grab some food before their walk back to campus. The stop wasn’t easy, as Chloe almost got in a fight with an employee for not letting her walk through the drive-thru.

They bought two orders of fries with drinks and made their way back towards campus.

 

After some silence, Chloe spoke up, speaking more urgently than she expected, “Sorry for being a nuisance.”

 

Max finished her gulp of her milkshake and eyed over to Chloe, “What? You’re not at all.”

 

Chloe let out a short, abrupt laugh and kept her gaze on her feet, “I just know you could be doing better than dealing with your drunk friend. Maybe David was right-”

 

“No, stop it.” Max grabbed Chloe’s shoulder and tugged it so they faced each other, “David is a complete asshole who has no respect or care for how you feel. He just wants to bring you down and you shouldn’t let him get to you. Even if you’re confusing and difficult, just like the old Chloe I knew, you’re still an amazing person okay?”

 

The warm smile that Chloe gave Max made her heart flutter. She didn’t expect to say so much to Chloe at once, but she was glad she did.

 

“Thanks Max.” Chloe said with a smile. She leaned forward and tickled Max’s sides, “When did you become such a big sap?”

 

Max spun around and jerked her body, dropping some of her fries onto the floor between laughs, “C-Chloe stop! You jerk!” She grabbed onto Chloe’s hand and rotated her body away, “I’m gonna lose my food!”

 

Chloe bit back her laugh and stopped her onslaught of attacks. She nodded her head towards the road for them to continue back. As they made their way, Max noticed she was still holding onto Chloe’s hand. She grinned realizing that Chloe hadn’t let go, because she wanted to keep holding her.

 

Max’s attention toward their hands made Chloe look down as well. Max felt her stomach sink when Chloe’s hand began to adjust in hers. She was about to pull away to make it less uncomfortable, but realized Chloe was interlocking their fingers. Max quickly looked up at Chloe with a small blush and caught her eye.

 

“Only cause I’m drunk, Caulfield.” She said with a smirk and took a long sip of her drink.

 

When they reached the dorms, they went inside and started down for their dorm. The stain across the carpets had all been cleaned, most likely by the janitor staff on campus. Max immediately felt awful for not cleaning up her own mess herself.

 

When they got to their room, Max let go of Chloe’s hand to dig through her bag for a key. The release of contact immediately made her want to grip onto Chloe’s hand again, she loved how her hand felt entwined in her own.

 

“The door’s unlocked.” Chloe spoke up suddenly. Max looked up from her bag, her eyes wide and worries filtering through her head.

 

“Stay out here.” Chloe said as she pushed the door open and slowly went inside. Max waited outside for a little while as she heard Chloe push around and inspect the room. She grew impatient and walked in after her. The room looked exactly as they had left it earlier.

 

“I know we locked it though. Is anything missing?” Max asked and began navigating around.

 

Chloe was shuffling through her dismantled bed and stood up, catching sight of the desk. Max looked over and saw what Chloe had spotted. Chloe’s pack of cigarettes were on top of the desk, holding down a note.

 

“What the fuck?” Chloe said softly as she approached the note and grabbed it, reading over it quickly. Max walked over slowly, watching Chloe’s eyes dart over the paper over and over, her hands shaking and her eyes growing wide.

 

“What is it? What does it say?” Max began to worry seeing Chloe’s reaction.

 

“We’re going.” Chloe stated under her breath, walking over to the nightstand and grabbing her car keys.

 

“What?” Max asked, her voice full of worry she watched Chloe throw the sheets and pieces of her bed around the room in search of something. She was digging through the same place she had fished out alcohol earlier.

 

Before Max could ask again what happened, Chloe had dug out a small box and pulled it up to her lap. She opened it up and pulled out a shiny, black revolver.

 

“Shit! What the fuck?! Is that really a gun Chloe?!” Max tried not to yell but couldn’t keep her voice down. She was completely in shock that she had this hidden the entire time.

 

“Max, are you coming?” Chloe spoke softly, eyeing down at the gun.

 

“What…? Chloe w-”

 

“Are you FUCKING coming with me or what!?” Chloe yelled, her eyes full of rage as she locked them onto Max. Her intense stare paralyzing Max, keeping her from giving any kind of reaction.

 

Within seconds, Chloe had started for the door and slammed it open on her way out. Max saw the note on the floor and wanted to read it so badly, but decided against it and ran out after Chloe. They were heading for her car, but Max couldn’t keep up with Chloe’s sprinting. When she reached her car, Max was able to grab onto her and stop her from getting in.

 

“Chloe, I don’t know what’s going on but you’re drunk! You can’t drive.” Max tried to grab Chloe’s keys, but Chloe yanked her hand back.

 

“Max I have to go.” She spoke between heavy breaths. Max’s heart felt heavy seeing the desperation in her eyes.

 

“I’ll drive then, let’s go.” Max jumped to take the keys and hopped into the driver’s seat, Chloe rounding the car and getting into the passenger’s side.

 

They drove in silence, only the short phrases of Chloe giving directions filling the air. Max knew this wasn’t the time to ask questions no matter how much she wanted to. She looked over at the gun Chloe had between her hands and hanging off her seat. This was something serious, and Max was terrified about what was going to happen.

 

They arrived at a junk yard. Cars were rusted and building walls dilapidated. There were heaps of junk and trash spread around and the ground had broken and dug up in multiple places. As Max slowed down, Chloe was already out of the car before it had completed parked.

 

“Chloe!” Max yelled and followed after her. She dodged multiple tires and metal scraps from cars lines along the ground. She saw Chloe approach a small building that had no roof and the walls were torn apart.

 

Chloe pulled up her gun and walked over to the front of the building. The door was already hanging off its hinges, but closed enough so the inside was concealed.

 

Max was following behind slowly, her heart pounding and her legs shaking with every step. She didn’t know what was happening, or what was going on, but she knew this wasn’t going to end well.

 

Chloe gripped the gun between her hands rightly, running forward and using her shoulder to break through the door. Max was taken aback by her sudden action and followed after her quickly, entering inside the space and being completely shocked by the scene.

 

There was a girl there, down on her knees with her arms tied together. Her hair was poured over her and her head hung over, covering her face. Her body was covered in scratches and her clothing was full of rips.

 

Max felt her entire stomach flip, her body frozen and shuddering, she had seen all this. All of this, all those dreams she had. This was the girl. This was her.

 

Fighting through her shock, she remembered how her dream went, and what was to come.

 

“Rachel!” Chloe shrieked so loudly and desperately, it echoed in the room and ran chills down Max’s spine. She began to run forward toward her.

 

Max knew there was someone else. There was always another figure. She turned and saw a man who was hidden in the back along the wall step forward quickly. He had a camera in his hand.

 

Max remembered there was a flash, there was a flash that followed in her dream. Was it his camera? Her panic stunned her and caught in her throat. She fought through the stiffness and yelled, “Chloe! Look ou-” She felt a hand cover her mouth and she tried to look at who it was, but she couldn’t turn around.

She eyed back over to see Chloe down on her knees in front of the girl, dropping the gun at her side. She had heard Max and turned to face the man. He had his camera in his hand but dropped it to his side. Max saw him reach over and grab the gun. He stood back up and pointed it toward Rachel. Her head was lifted up past her hair and exposing her face. The cuts on her face visible and tape across her mouth trapping her voice. Her eyes were glistening, full of terror as she looked over to Chloe.

 

Chloe stood up and brought her arms out to guard Rachel, her eyes enraged and glossy. She was about to speak, about to yell and tear down the man with her vexation.

 

_BANG._

 

Max felt everything go silent and still, even though the room had been full of noise. The gunshot echoed, and vibrated the room. Everything was in slow motion as Chloe fell to her knees, the gunshot hole coloring a red circle into her head, Rachel trying to scream behind the tape across her mouth. The hands holding back Max released as he spoke and yelled toward the man, but Max couldn't hear what he said, everything began to sound faint and distant.

 

She watched as her best friend fell onto the ground, motionless, and the man pulling the gun back to his side as he reached back for his camera.

 

“CHLOE!” Max screamed, her voice towering through the room and her body shuddering in every nerve. She reached her hand out and ran forward, not thinking twice about what would happen to her, or what would happen next. Her vision blurred from the tears pouring down her cheeks and her jaws tight from clenching her teeth together.

 

The room froze as she kept moving, the light that cascaded in glimmering and flaring and the walls shook. She kept her motion forward while everything vibrated in stillness, like a Polaroid being flicked dry. Her vision was blurred, but not from the tears. The colors glowing and blending together. She felt her body being pulled back and her head pounding.

 

And before she knew it, everything flashed to black.


End file.
